"Hey Gage, why are you letting Wheeler get out of doing his chores?" asked Chet. He liked stirring Johnny but he didn't like to see him taken advantage of.
"What are you talking about Chet?" Johnny had just sat down to polish his boots.
"There's nothing wrong with his hand, it's just a little cut on the back of his hand" said Chet shaking his head.
"Yeah...well...he also had a tetanus shot...and your arm gets pretty sore" Johnny was beginning to realise Wheeler was playing him. "Ok Chet...ok...I get your point...just leave it and I'll figure out something" said Johnny trying to concentrate on his boots.
"Bit late Gage you've done all his chores...next he'll have you doing all the rescuing while he just sits back and does the treating" Chet left the room shaking his head.
"You're not far wrong Chet" Johnny said quietly, he'd prefer to never work with Wheeler again. He flexed his shoulder muscles; they had become progressively stiffer as the day wore on.
Apart from being called out to a structure fire, which was a small house, the rest of the shift went by pretty quietly. Johnny was grateful as his shoulders were very stiff by the time they made their way into their bunks that night. If he thought they were stiff before going to sleep, it was nothing compared to when he woke up. He could hardly raise his arms without feeling pain and a large bruise was appearing on the back of his shoulder.
Roy did not have a restful night. His eye was swollen shut when he awoke in the morning. The nurse had to pry it open to get the drops in. His stomach had settled down but he figured that would change as soon as the next dose of antibiotics was administered. His knee was at least feeling better, with most of the swelling gone and all that remained was a dark bruise.
Some ice over a towel was placed over his eye to reduce the swelling. It felt uncomfortable but he figured it was better than having a swollen eye. Dr Brackett was called and he was in Roy's room at the crack of dawn.
"I think we need to change your antibiotics Roy. These aren't working" he informed Roy. "There must have been some bacteria in the soil" Brackett claimed. Roy sighed and nodded acknowledging Brackett.
"I hate being in hospital" Roy said dismally.
Dr Brackett smiled, "Well Johnny should be in to see you soon. He's been called to an MVA. I need to go they should be calling it in soon, Mike will need a hand". Dr Brackett left Roy's room.
Roy was feeling down, this latest development with his eye was so annoying. His knee which hurt the most after his fall was feeling better and now his eye which he thought would be fine by now was much worse. He was looking forward to seeing Johnny and hearing about the MVA.
Roy thought about Johnny's visit yesterday and although he couldn't remember much of it, he knew he had been quite grumpy. He remembered something about a cut and that Johnny was not happy about something. Deep down he was hoping Johnny was missing him.
"How's your hand?" asked Johnny.
"It's fine Gage, just fine" said Wheeler as he held it up and twisted it around.
"Johnny...call me Johnny" he told Wheeler for the hundredth time.
The klaxons went off "Station 51 Motor vehicle accident involving a gasoline tanker on North bound 405 near Lincoln exit. Repeat north bound 405 near Lincoln exit. Time out 7:05."
"Station 51 KMG-365" Cap acknowledged. He passed the log to Wheeler who passed it onto Johnny. He then ran round the front of the squad and engine and jumped into the passenger side of the engine. The squad led out, the wailing sirens and flashing red lights pieced the early morning's ambiance.
The station had been called out t before they had time to make the morning coffee. All the men were still trying to wake up from their overnight sleep but it wasn't long before the adrenalin started pumping through their bodies.
They arrived to a scene of where a tanker had side swiped several cars before running into a delivery truck. Johnny and Wheeler ran to check on the drivers of the trucks. The driver of the tanker was pinned under the dash. Marco helped Johnny remove the front window for better access.
"How is he John?" asked Cap with concern in his voice.
"He's in a bad way Cap, we'll need to get the dash off him. I'll need a cervical collar, backboard and I need some gauze to stop the bleeding. He's got a bad head wound" Johnny told Cap. Cap called out for the necessary items to Marco who ran to the squad to get them.
Chet and Mike were helping Wheeler. His victim had broken ribs from hitting the steering wheel. His breathing was laboured. Both paramedics had their hands full. Wheeler had his victim out first and was later joined by Johnny with his victim.
Both paramedics worked well together as there was no room for any nonsense. All Wheeler's antics had disappeared as he worked with care along side Johnny.
Wheeler opted to go in the ambulance. Johnny told him he'd follow in the squad in case either victim worsened on the journey. The ambulance pulled away and Johnny jumped in the squad turned on the sirens, lights and followed.
Johnny thought that maybe they should have both been in the ambulance since both victims were in a bad way. He knew Wheeler would have his hands full.
The ambulance raced through an intersection, all cars had stopped and watched it go by. A small delivery truck, who was running late, watched the ambulance drive through the intersection. The driver accelerated to beat the other traffic not noticing the squad following the ambulance. He slammed straight into the driver's side of the squad pushing it at least thirty feet across the intersection into stationery traffic.
The ambulance driver cried out "Oh my God, Johnny just got wiped out by a truck".
"What?" Wheeler looked towards the back of the ambulance but there were no windows to look through. "Call it in" he instructed the ambulance driver.