Chapter 3
At five minutes to eight Sunday morning Marco's car came zipping into the station's parking lot. He'd never, NEVER, been late and didn't want to start now. As it was he was cutting it fine as he had to change into his uniform.
"Dios Mio! Chet's here already!" he cursed as he jumped out of his car and hurried into the locker room.
"Whoa! This is a first," the Irish firefighter said as he tucked in his shirt. "Marco's late."
"NO," he said. "I have four minutes!" He whipped off his shirt and grabbed a blue button down from his locker. At least he'd already put the pins on this uniform. Shoes toed off and jeans unbuttoned and unzipped in record time. He was out the door and heading for the front of the engine before Chet was able to pin on his tags.
"Well, Mr. Lopez, I see you managed to make it," Cap looked at his watch, "with about 90 seconds to spare."
"Mama was still going on about Hawaii," he grumbled. "She went over with Papa before we were born. She brought out all her pictures and was still showing them to me when I got into my car."
"I guess it's good to be orphaned," Johnny said, sotto voice, to his partner. For his part, Roy whopped him on the shoulder.
"And look at this," Cap continued choosing to ignore his junior paramedic, "Mr. Kelly is exactly on time!" Itora smiled enjoying the banter. He liked the feel of this station! They all really liked one another and protected each other fiercely. Also, they had no problem extending their family to include new comers like his crew. He was definitely going to start having get-togethers like the 51s did.
Hank read the bulletin, which was fairly short, and then assigned jobs. He gave cooking to both Gage and DeSoto with the tag that they had to meet with him regarding their roll in the cross-training with the Honolulu fire department. Johnny and Roy nervously glanced at one another, their protective natures for one another tingling.
Matt happily accepted the dorms; he'd seen how they liked it done the day before. Mike and Marco split latrines and the hoses while Chet received the bay and dishes.
"Hey, no fair!" Chet grumbled. "Those two will use every pot in the kitchen!"
"Is that a challenge, Kelly?" Gage asked with a big grin.
"NO!" came the quick retort. Hank dismissed the crew to their chores and led Frank into the office.
First the two captains looked over the paperwork. Fortunately it was pretty much tackled. Next, they went out to the kitchen and poured out coffee. Hank started a new pot before they returned to the office. For the next hour Frank asked him all about the history of his crew and why they were so tight.
"Hey, Johnny?" Mike came into the kitchen after hoses and latrines were finished. Gage looked up from his grocery list.
"Surfing! What about surfing?" Mike continued. Johnny grinned.
"We'll ship our boards," he said. "It's not that expensive and I want my board for the waves."
"Great," the engineer said. "I figured you'd know how to handle it."
"You two surf?" Matt asked as he poured out some fresh coffee.
"A bit," Johnny allowed.
"A bit?" Mike scoffed. "He's real good."
"I surf, done some amateur competitions," Matt bragged. "Maybe I'd better check you two out first! See if you got it before you embarrass us over there!"
"You're on!" Mike said. "I mean I'm not that great but Johnny's pro!" The younger paramedic just shook his head.
"Don't listen to him, Matt," Gage said. "He's just impressed 'cause I know some pro surfers."
"KNOW? KNOW!" Mike exclaimed. His raised voice brought the rest of the crew running. The engineer never raised his voice and his face turned beet red when his friends appeared at the doorways.
"Everything alright?" Hank asked seeing the strange sight; his second in command was, was agitated!"
"Hey, Mikey, what gives?" Chet asked.
"Nothing, Chet," Johnny jumped in quickly. "Mikey was just agreeing to go surfing with Matt." He made a cutting motion across his throat as he glared at the engineer.
"Quit calling me Mikey," he growled low in his throat.
"Sorry, Mike," Gage said now grinning. He hoped the man would drop the conversation about his past. With a tight nod Stoker turned to glare at Chet.
"Goes for you, too, Chester B!" he shot.
"Ok, Mike," the linesman agreed without apology. Fortunately, the tones sounded sending the squad off on a run.
Matt was enjoying his second shift with the 51s immensely. As with the previous shift they allowed him to take care of the patient in the field and then ride to the hospital with him. As he left the exam room he confidently walked over to the nurse's desk. Both Johnny and Roy were there waiting for him.
"How'd it go?" Roy asked.
"Eh, he did break his leg but Dr. Morton said it looked like a clean break and wouldn't require surgery," the Hawaiian reported.
"I'll call us in available," Johnny said and began to move to the squad. "And we'd better hit the market on the way back!"
They were able to get the food back to the station and then the two local paramedics were called into Cap's office. As they sat down they were handed file folders. Glancing inside they saw lists of fire stations and names of newly minted paramedics.
"Looks like you have twenty new paramedics, Cap," Roy said before his partner finished counting down.
"Ten teams," Itora agreed. "At this point we have them spread over five stations. Not all shifts are covered as you can imagine. We hope to add another eight teams at the end of October when the next class finishes."
"The difficulty is utilizing both of you effectively," Hank began. "You'll be split up and assigned to different teams. The Honolulu chief wants you to ride at least two shifts with each team."
"That'd be 10 shifts each," Johnny pointed out.
"Which brings up how to do that in two weeks..." Roy squirmed nervously. It sounded like they would have no time off!
"You will be there longer than that," Itora said. "Hank and I insisted you two get the same down time as your crew mates. You'll stay an additional week or so."
"Now would be a good time to ask what you expect us to do," Johnny went for the crux of the matter.
"Right now each team is accompanied by a nurse who does all the treatment in the field. With the new legislation in place our paramedics will have the same duties as you do now," the Hawaiian captain explained. "We are... facing some challenges."
"Challenges?" Roy picked up the stress in the man's voice.
"It seems that there is some resistance to the program," he explained carefully. "Both at the local hospitals and among some of the firemen, especially a couple captains. They resent the additional crew that take directions from dispatch, the hospital, and not just them. So you'll have to be the guide for both the paramedics and the firefighters at each station." The two men leaned back trying to assimilate their task.
"Dr. Brackett has already suggested we bring the heads of their ERs over here for a ride along," Stanley explained. "From what I've heard two have agreed and will be here in a few days."
"Who'll they ride with?" Roy asked.
"You," came the reply. "Matt will ride with another team those two shifts. Brackett will have one shadowing him at Rampart while one rides with you."
"All I can say is I'm glad I'm not working out the schedule!" Johnny ran his hand through his hair.
"I'm glad I don't have to, either!" Roy agreed. "I just hope we don't get too much resistance over there. It was bad enough running the gauntlet here."
"Yeah, Doc was sure hard to deal with at first," Johnny commented.
"And now you're room mates," Cap pointed out. "Let's face it, you and Roy were hand picked because you can get along with anyone and can survive in less than optimum conditions. The rest of us are lucky because we get to ride on your coat tails to Hawaii!"
The paramedics looked at one another, communicating in silence. It certainly wasn't going to be easy given the barely expressed problems. They each remembered the frustration and troubles they'd gone through five years before.
"We'll need some planning time, Cap," Roy finally said.
"And we'll need a heads-up on where the problems are," Johnny added, his face serious.
"Neither of us want to go in blind," Roy firmly stated.
Itora was impressed, these two men were as professional as they came. He was now assured they'd be able to handle anything thrown at them.
"I'll personally brief you," he assured them. "Why don't you go through the files and we'll talk more next shift?"
"Maybe you can come up with some plans based on your previous trainees," Hank added. "You'll find their manual is nearly identical to ours." They nodded their heads in tandem.
"Let's get lunch together," Roy said as he stood.
"Ok, Cap?" Johnny asked, neatly finishing his partner's thought.
"Sounds good, gentlemen!" Hank watched them leave, files in hand.
The paramedics headed into the kitchen. Johnny immediately began pulling out the hamburger and fries. As he was assembling the food, Roy began reading aloud from the file.
"Ok, of the twenty recruits, four are women," Roy commented.
"Better than LA," Johnny said. Fries were put into the oven.
"Most of them are in their early twenties, although there are two that are thirty," he continued. "All of 'em have at least two years in the department."
"That's good, makes it easier to work in a station," patties were being formed, flattened, and put on the heavy griddle. Roy flipped a page and looked at the teams and stations.
"Don't know anything about the make up of the stations' areas," he commented. "That'll be a question for Cap Itora." Lettuce was being rinsed. A knife came next to dispatch tomatoes and onions.
"Here's a breakdown on calls for the previous summer/fall," Roy started relaying the information as Johnny arranged the fixings on plates.
"Salad?" Gage asked.
"Canned fruit," DeSoto determined. "Salad with dinner." With a grunt cans were retrieved from the pantry shelves.
"Cap was right, their manual is almost a direct copy of ours," Roy flipped through the pages. As cans were drained the contents were dumped in a bowl then tossed to mix. Burgers flipped.
"When did their paramedic law take effect?" Johnny asked as he carried bowls to the table.
"Uh," flip, flip, flip, "The 1st of August," Roy looked over at his partner.
"Great, about three weeks from now," he said.
"Better get the buns out," Roy moved over to check the burgers. Another trip to the pantry and soon the buns made it to the counter next to the plates. Condiments followed and their crew mates were called in to eat.
"If I had a dollar for every time Gage did burgers," Chet began even before he'd come into the kitchen.
"I'd rather have a dollar for every time you made Irish Stew," Mike uncharacteristically shot back. He was still sore about being called 'Mikey'.
"ooh, Mikey, you wound me!" Chet splayed his hand over his chest.
"That's two, Chester B," he growled. "That's two." He shoved past the firefighter and into the kitchen. Both captains noted the exchange but said nothing. Johnny watched the engineer basically throw himself into his chair. Not a good sign.
The paramedic picked up two plates, put down buns and lifted a patty onto each one. Roy dumped some french fries on the two plates before grabbing a plate for himself.
"Hey, Mike," Johnny sat down next to him, setting down the plates. Roy sat on the other side effectively protecting him from the annoying Irish crew mate. Hank smiled at the arrangement before sitting down next to Chet.
Lunch was fairly quiet. Marco kicked his friend several times when it looked like he was going to speak. Roy and Matt kept up a discussion on Disneyland and young children. The Hawaiian paramedic wanted to learn as much as possible about navigating through the park with his family. They had agreed to go together and had already called in for reservations at the character breakfast.
"Carole mentioned she was a bit concerned about letting the kids go off on their own," Itora mentioned to Hank.
"Hmmm, I know Jake prefers to stay as far away from me and his mom as possible," Stanley admitted. "And Ruth feels about the same. It is really safe to let them go and set up check points during the day." The conversation was cut off by tones.
"Station 51, structure fire, 493 Midway Court. Cross street, Anaheim Boulevard. Time out, 12:50," dispatch relayed.
"Station 51, KMG 365," Stanley replied. Paper passed off to Gage as he and Mike traced over the huge map locating their destination.
Once more the squad led the engine down the streets and around several corners. They saw the smoke then the building.
"Orowheat?" Matt read the sign.
"It's a day old bread outlet," Roy explained as he stopped to let Johnny out to establish the water line. Soon they were pulling on coats and air tanks.
"Roy, John," Stanley barked out. "Two unaccounted for in the back store room. Make it quick!" With a nod the two men entered the building leaving Matt to set up a triage area.
Moving quickly through the front part of the store they moved back into the warehouse area. They could see the spray of water coming through the garage doors onto the delivery trucks. Not a good situation with gas tanks getting heated up by the fire.
Next they passed racks of bread products, the packaging machines beyond. The huge stack of cardboard was on fire. Roy pulled on Johnny's arm pointing out what looked to be an office area. They moved towards it.
Unfortunately a gas tank chose that moment to erupt, the percussion throwing both paramedics against the machines against the wall. Johnny was up immediately and discovered Roy had been pinned under a metal table.
"51 to HT 51," Cap's voice came, "all employees accounted for. Evacuate immediately!"
"Love to," Gage grunted as he tried to leverage the heavy table off of his partner. Leaning his thigh against it he gave a huge shove, felt something sharp lance his upper leg, and watched the table fall off DeSoto.
"HT 51," Roy hissed. "We're coming." Once the weight was off of him the senior paramedic was able to get up and move. He latched onto his partner and towed him back through the storage area to the store front. He could tell something was wrong with Johnny as he was holding his leg as he moved.
As soon as they cleared the door yet another gas tank decided to blow. At least the percussive wave was contained in the garage/storage area and did not affect them. Roy pulled Johnny's arm over his shoulder and headed to Matt and the triage area.
"What happened?" Matt asked as the injured paramedic was lowered onto the yellow tarp. Roy unbuckled his scba, then started on his partner's. He could see the blood seeping out from under his hand.
"Blast trapped me under some equipment," he explained as he pulled out his scissors and immediately sliced up his partner's pants leg. "John hefted it off, but he got cut. Come on, Junior, let me see it!"
He pulled the hand off the wound and let it attach to his opened coat. At least he hadn't cut an artery; the blood wasn't shooting out.
"Gauze," he asked. "Normal saline." Mat competently handed over everything requested then worked off the heavy coat to get a blood pressure.
"Rampart, this is Squad 51," he called in on the biophone.
"Squad 51, this is Rampart," Kel Brackett's voice came over the speaker.
"Rampart, we have a code 1," Matt began. "Male, 26, blood pressure 140/95. Respirations 30 and shallow. Pulse 90. Has 6 inch laceration to right thigh. Pressure bandage applied."
"51, and artery damage?" Brackett pushed. Roy shook his head.
"That's negative, Rampart," he reported. It appears to be fairly deep but missed any major artery."
"Ok, 51, start an IV with ringers, tko. Is the patient experiencing much pain?" he queried. This time Johnny shook his head.
"A little dizzy, not much pain," he reported as he worked to get his breathing under control. The adrenaline rush was just beginning to wind down.
"Negative, Rampart, although the patient is a little dizzy," Matt replied.
"Ok, get him in asap, 51," Kel determined.
"Affirmative, Rampart," he confirmed. Roy gave the estimated time for transport which was also relayed.
"Matt, you take him in," Roy decided. "I'll bring in the squad."
"Roy, you ok?" Johnny asked.
"Surprisingly, yeah," the senior man smiled down at his friend. "The tank kept me from getting hurt. Might be some bruising."
"Get it checked," he ordered.
"Yes, Junior," Roy patted his friend on the shoulder. "I'll get someone to look me over at Rampart."
"I'll make sure," Matt added. Soon their patient was loaded and heading out.
After a 10 minute sirened run the ambulance backed into the ER dock. Johnny was wheeled into an exam room and Dr. Morton appeared.
"Well, well, Johnny Gage," he grinned. "What kind of stunt did you pull this time?"
"Pulled a metal table off my partner," he grumbled back. Although Dr. Morton was quite good, his bedside manner left a lot to be desired, at least for Gage. Matt watched as the nurse finished cutting off pants, then at the doctor's direction his shirt was removed. As an afterthought a gown was tossed over him but not fastened on.
"Did I really have ta get stripped, doc?" Johnny complained.
"Standard operating procedure for you," Morton retorted. "You might be smuggling additional injuries and you have a habit of disappearing." Not feeling like engaging in any more conversation, the injured man lay back down and threw his arm over his eyes basically shutting down.
The door opened and Brackett walked in. He'd wanted to take Johnny since he'd handled the initial treatment. Given the paramedic's body language he figured he best step in.
"Hey, Mike," he put his hand on Morton's shoulder, "I wanted to follow this one through."
"No problem, Kel, I can stitch him up," the younger doctor stated as he began to cut off the bandage.
"You know protocol, I took the initial call and I'd like to finish it," Brackett said carefully, not wanting to make it an order. Fortunately, Morton shrugged and set down the scissors.
"Sure, I understand," he said, clearly not.
"Uhm, Doc?" Matt said nervously. "Roy was trapped under the table and said he might have bruised his back. We didn't call it in 'cause he promised to get it checked."
"Ah, there, I'll just go check out the other half of the stunt team," Morton said with a smile. Matt and the nurse followed him out in search of Roy.
"Thanks, Doc," Johnny murmured from under his arm.
"Got to protect my room mate," Kel replied as he began cutting the bandage the rest of the way off. The door opened and Dixie came in.
"Where's your shirt?" she asked.
"Morton," was all Gage said.
"Ah," she nodded in comprehension. She picked up his uniform shirt where it had been tossed and frowned at the sliced up pants. She then moved to a cupboard and pulled out a set of scrubs and a warmed blanket. The blanket was gratefully accepted.
"I'll need lidocaine and a suture kit," Brackett determined. These were retrieved and soon the nurse was cleaning the wound site in preparation to stitching.
"Doesn't look too bad," the doctor said as he stitched up the gash. "You can stay on shift if you'd like."
"Yeah, I'd prefer to," Johnny finally lifted his arm off his face and pushed up on his elbows watching the needle push through his skin. Dixie adjusted the gurney so he was mostly sitting up.
"You're current on tetnus," Dixie commented.
"Yeah," came the semi-sarcastic retort.
"I'll check on you later in the shift, see if we'll need antibiotics," Kel chose to ignore the comment.
"Ok, Doc," sarcasm gone. The door opened and Roy came in.
"Heard Morton started out here," Roy said. He was buttoning up his shirt.
"You got to keep your clothes on?" Dixie teased.
"It was a near thing!" Roy growled. Then he looked at his partner.
"How bad is it?" he asked, buttons forgotten as he rushed over to the table.
"Some stitches," Kel shrugged. "No problem."
"But?" he gestured at Gage.
"Remember, Morton started in here," Dixie said. Matt slunk through the door.
"What is it with him and Johnny?" Roy exclaimed. "The last
couple months he's really ridden him." Kel said nothing but
continued stitching. Dixie fell silent as well.
"I am here, ya know," Johnny grumbled at his partner. "Be
useful, see if my shirt survived." With a faint blush DeSoto did as
directed. He then tossed it to his partner.
"I'll be in the lounge when you're done," he said tersely
and headed out dragging Matt along with him.
"Uh, Roy?" Matt hesitantly asked as they sat down in the
lounge. "You mad at Johnny?" Roy sat silent for a long moment.
"No, not at him," he finally allowed. "Just upset he got
hurt. Plus, Dr. Morton doesn't have the best bedside manner and that gets Johnny moody and he is difficult to be around."
"Sounds like a complicated partnership," the Hawaiian offered.
"I guess," Roy said. "It's just we're so close and when
you're close to someone you don't want to see them hurt." Matt
thought on this until Gage appeared in the doorway.
"Ready to roll pally," he said quietly. With a nod Roy got
up, rinsed his and Matt's mugs and went out to the squad.
As the visiting paramedic began to climb in Roy stopped him.
"Middle, Junior," he growled softly. With a crooked grin
the injured man slid in next to his partner. They rode in silence back
to the station. Once there Matt watched as the senior partner herded his friend into the dorms to change into fresh clothing. Then he moved Gage into the kitchen, plunked him in a chair near the counter and went to start dinner.
Matt continued observing as Mike came into the kitchen and
opened the fridge. A glass of milk was poured out and a plate retrieved with a sandwich on it. This was handed over to the younger paramedic with a smile.
"Thanks, Mike," he said quietly. Then louder, "Thanks,
Cap!"
"Welcome, Gage," came the reply from the office. It looked
to be peanut butter.. and banana? Something kind of yellow. He
realized Cap Itora had come into the room and sat down next to him.
"Pretty amazing, eh?" the older man asked quietly.
"Yeah, they really can be protective!" Matt replied. "At
first I couldn't believe it, ya know? But now it feels ok."
"Yups, I'd like to feel this back at home!" Itora agreed.
"We'll have to have a get together and see how it goes." They
watched as Marco and Chet wandered into the kitchen. Both glanced over at the dinner prep before moving over to the coffee pot.
"Gage! You finished off the coffee!" Chet griped.
"Nope, got milk," the paramedic responded with a milk-mustached grin. Mike snickered.
"I didn't take the last of it, either," Roy said before blame could be placed on him. Marco picked up the pot and proceeded to make more. Chet moved over to his pigeon.
"Peanut butter again? You're a nut, Gage," he started, hoping to provoke the younger man.
"Bananas, too," came the teasing reply. He took a large bite and began to chew showing the entire mess to his tormentor.
"That's gross, Gage!" he gagged.
"You should see it with chips," Roy added.
"Or with fruit punch," Mike said. "Looks like bloody flesh."
"You're all gross!" Chet said in disgust as he turned and
stomped over to the table. Marco was laughing as he set out two mugs in readiness for fresh coffee.
"You asked for it, amigo!" he said.
"What did Kelly ask for this time?" Stanley walked in to the kitchen glancing around. Everything seemed fine, from the dinner being prepared to his visitors sitting quietly at the table.
"Nothing, Cap," responded Mike. He patted Johnny on the
back and headed for the table. "Game of cards?" They'd barely
dealt when the tones sounded.
"Station 51, MVA, Martin Luther Blvd and 7th street. Time out, 4:50," dispatch barked.
Station 51, KMG 365," Stanley responded smoothly and handed a
sheet to Matt as he moved by him. He found himself back in the middle of the seat as the professional personas slipped into place.
