Chapter 11

In Need of a little Help

The ambulance attendants had one of the young men loaded up on a stretcher and were returning with the gurney just as Cap and the others were reaching the squad and the treatment area, with the two stokes.

Johnny sat up in order to help out, but he moved to quickly causing his head to spin. But instead of sitting still and waiting for the spinning to let up he proceeded to move over to were they were setting down the stokes. His first glance at Roy's face told him he was in a lot of pain but before he could do any thing more, his vision blacked out and he collapsed on top of Roy.

Cap turned from setting down the stokes, in time to see Johnny collapse on top of Roy.

"Johnny!" Roy called out. He had been unaware of Johnny's injuries and was sent into panic at the quick glimpse of Johnny's bruised and swollen face and then his collapse.

Cap quickly rolled Johnny to the side, and he too was shocked at the bruising and swelling in his face. He was kicking himself for not checking him out more closely before leaving him.

Johnny quickly began coming around, he was a little disorientated at first but then he remembered that he had been trying to help Roy and tried to sit up a second time. Cap placed a hand on his shoulder and held him down, "You stay right there." He ordered.

"But Roy . . . . ." He started to say.

"But nothin mister, the other squad has just pulled up they will take care of everything from here, now you lay still and that's an order!"

With that Johnny lay back and closed his eyes and thought, "This is a good day to forget." Then he heard Roy call out, "What happened to you Johnny?"

"Nothing much, I just tried to tackle a cement support beam with my face. What about you, how bad are you hurt?"

"I'll be . . . . .Aaag" Roy's fib was interrupted when his hip and leg burst into pain as a muscles spasm shot threw his injured leg. This had Ross from Squad 8 quickly reaching for the bio-phone where he reported Roy's vitals and pain and with in a few minutes he had an IV going with something for the pain added.

After setting down the stokes he was helping to carry Chet stepped over to Marco and asked, "Did you get hit in there."

Marco tried to shrug the question off but stopped in mid shrug with a grimace on his face but said, "Not bad, I'll be okay."

One of the men for station 18, who had seen Johnny's face plant into the support beam, informed Peters and it was decided that they should put him on a back board and strapped him down. He started too protested until he heard Cap say, "Shut up and lie still so these guys can do their job."

They quickly had Johnny strapped down and Roy splinted and loaded up into the ambulance. By this time it was decided that Marco needed to go in and get checked out too so he was put in the front seat and the ambulance pulled out.

Cap, Mike and Chet stayed behind long enough to gather up their hoses and equipment. Cap had Chet drive the squad back to the station where the next shift was soon to arrive, then they planned on going to Rampart to check on there friends.

Marco was held over for a few hours for evaluation. He had a bump on the back of his head and a large bruise on the left shoulder from where some falling debris had hit him.

Roy's X-Rays showed that he had an Intertrochanteric fracture of his left leg/hip area and possible abdominal injuries and was sent up to the OR to have the break pined and a scope of his abdomen.

Johnny's X-rays showed that he had not injured his back or neck but he did have a sprained ankle, and it had taken thirty seven stitches to close the cut on his face. Much to his disappointment they were going to keep him over night for observations due to a slight concussion. At this point Johnny was in a bad mood. His day had not been one of his better day and the fact that he had passed out over Roy and probably caused him more pain, pulse the fact of being strapped down to the dam backboard when he knew it wasn't needed. All he wanted to do was go home and be left alone to nurse his own wounds.

They got Johnny settled into a room with the promise that he would have a room mate as soon as Roy was moved out of recovery.

Johnny awoke with the sound of the door opening and foot steps coming into the room. He turned and saw Joanne coming towards him. "Jo, how's Roy?"

Instead of the answer he was looking for Joann said, "My goodness Johnny, I sure hope you are not as bad off as you look." Then she reached out her hand and brushed his hair off the bandage on his forehead, "You look like a masked bandit."

Johnny gave a week smile then asked about Roy again.

"Oh, he's out of surgery. They repaired his break and the scoping showed that no sever damage was done to his abdominal organs. They said they would be bringing him down some where in the next half an hour. So I decided to come in and check on you while I waited."

It was about thirty five minutes later when a couple of orderlies rolled Roy into the room on a gurney and transferred him onto the empty bed. The floor nurse took a set of vitals and checked to make sure his IV was working then with a smile to Joann she said, "Don't stay to long, they both need there rest." After giving Roy a quick check over herself she kissed him and told him she would be back later, then she gave Johnny a wave and said, "You get some rest too," and left.

It was around 10:00am before Dr Brackett was wrapping up a long shift. He stopped in to check both Roy and Johnny before going home. He found that Johnny hadn't been resting as well as he would like him to and that he was still in a bad mood. "Am I going to have to sedate you in order for you to rest?"

"Why don't you just send me home Doc. I'll sleep there a lot better then I will here."

With a sigh he said, "Maybe tomorrow Johnny." Then he turned and left the room. From there he went to the doctor's lounge to change. On his way out he passed Dixie at the nurse's station.

"So how are our boys doing?" she asked.

Shaking his head Brackett explained, "Well Roy is resting well but Johnny's mood hasn't improved and he's asking to be sent home."

"Hmmm, and what did you tell him?" she inquired.

"I told him in the morning." Then with a sigh he continued to say. "If it wasn't for his sprained ankle and the swelling around his eyes I might be willing to give in but as it is there is a high risk of him falling if I let him go home."

"What if he had someone stay with him?"

"You have someone in mind?"

"I just might." With that, Dix picked up the phone and began dialing.

Two hours later Dixie was pulling up to Johnny's apartment complex. After parking the car as close to his apartment as possible she turned to Johnny, "Give me your keys and I'll go open your door, then I'll come back and help you in."

Johnny pulled out his keys and handed them to Dixie, wincing as all the muscles of his upper body screamed in protest, so he leaned his head back and closed his eyes and tried to relax. He opened them again when the car door opened and a hand was offered to help him up, he took hold of it and pulled himself up. When he heard a gasp and looked up to see whose hand it was, instead of Dixie he found the hand belonged to Elizabeth. She had a diminishing smile on her face as she saw all the bruising of his face. "Don't worry, it looks worse then it is."

Slowly the smile returned as she slipped under his arm to steady him while Dixie slipped in under his other arm. Together they help Johnny up the stairs and into his apartment where they settled him down in his room.

As they were settling him in he asked, "You two know each other?"

"Sure were good friends, have been for years." Dixie said.

Johnny sat there with his mouth hanging open as he looked from one woman to the other. Finally he asked, "How did you meat each other."

"At the hospital," Dixie said. "That's a no brainer." Then she gave Johnny one of her no-nonsense looks and said, "Well I need to get back to work, but I know I'm leaving you in good hands." Then she turned to Elizabeth who was now standing in the doorway of Johnny's room. "Now if he starts to give you any gruff just call me and I'll come and straiten him out."

With that she left and Elizabeth headed for the kitchen where Johnny could hear the sounds of cupboards being opened and pots banging onto the stove and knew Elizabeth was cooking. So he relaxed and drifted off to sleep.

He was awakened by a touch on his arm. He looked up and saw Elizabeth standing next to his bed. "Nero check time." she said a little too upbeat. "Can you tell me your name?"

"John Gage."

"Do you know what day it is?"

"May, twenty-sixth, 1973."

Then with a quirky smile on her face she asked, "And what is your dog's name?"

"Fido"

With that they both started to laugh. Then she asked, "Are you hungry? I made some chicken noodle soup."

"That sounds good," Johnny replied as he began thinking of canned Campbell's soup, but when she returned and placed a tray in his lap he realized that it was homemade soup with chunks of carrots, potatoes, onions, and homemade noodles. "Hey this looks great." Elizabeth smiled and then turned to leave the room.

"Why don't you get yourself a bowl and come join me." Johnny asked. He saw a quick flash of uneasiness in her face, but then she nodded her acceptance and soon returned with a bowl of her own and sat on the floor near his bed.

Johnny glanced down at her, contemplating whether or not it was acceptable to invite her to sit on the foot of the bed. Instead he gave her a warm smile and said, "This soup is great. Thank You."

They sat and visited as they ate. Then when Johnny was finished she took his tray and returned it to the kitchen. A couple of minutes later she returned with his pain medication and a glass of water. Then she said, "If you need anything I'll be in the other room reading. Now get some rest." Then she turned off the light in the room and retreated down the hallway. Johnny could hear her washing the dishes as he drifted off to sleep.