Chapter 11
The rest of the shift was actually calm, with less than a dozen more runs the first day. Chet's teasing was kept in check by Johnny shaking out his gauze hog-tying ropes or snaking the lariat over various pieces of furniture.
Matt finished up his last 48 in fine style with a full cardiac arrest. He ran the lead on the entire rescue and helped Dr. Early in the treatment room. All in all he had a great experience at the 51s.
"So, we get Stephan on Friday, eh?" Roy asked the Hawaiian.
"Yups! He really excited about coming over," Matt smiled as they changed into casual clothes.
"We still on for the Tar Pits?" the senior paramedic looked at him.
"Yups and yups! The kids were going on about it last night on the phone," Matt agreed. Plans to meet at the hotel were finalized and soon the crew spread out on their days off.
Stephan Lewis was grinning. He was going to the 51s! His engineer buddy patiently waited as the paramedic nearly skipped around the car and settle into the passenger seat.
"Are we a happy paramedic, Stevie?" he teased and received a goofy grin.
"Yups! I get to go be a paramedic!" he crowed.
"Well, I get to be an engineer, which is mo' bettah!" Maddie smirked.
"You think Stoker will let you man his gauges?" Stephan pretended shock. "Didn't happen at the 8s."
"Me and Mike bonded at the beach," he smirked. "I went surfing with him and Matt. It was aurite!"
"Did Chrissy go along?" Stephan asked curiously.
"Of course she bagged! She loves the boards as much as I do!" the engineer replied. The car pulled out into traffic and soon were closing in on the station.
Mike Stoker was pulling the flag up the pole when they turned into the parking lot. As they sauntered into the building they were warmly greeted by Johnny and Marco who were heading into the kitchen for coffee. The 51s paramedic showed the visitors their lockers for the next two weeks.
"Roll call in ten, gentlemen!" Hank's voice called out.
"Coffee's on if you're interested," Gage smiled and lit out for the kitchen. Soon the two men were sipping a passable mug of coffee and selecting a pastry from a pink box on the table.
Hank called roll, they left coffee in the kitchen, and assigned jobs. Maddie had hoses with Mike and Stephan found himself in charge of the mopping. But first they went over the squad and checked in with Rampart.
Right off the Hawaiian found himself in charge, determining what supplies were needed and call in to calibrate the equipment. Then off to finish coffee and clean the floors.
Within the hour tones sounded.
"Station 51, structure fire. 732 Obispo. Cross street, 7th. Time out, 9:10," dispatch instructed.
"Station 51, KMG 365," Stanley responded and tore off the call slips, handing one to Roy while Johnny and Mike quickly traced their route on the huge wall map.
Soon the two vehicles were flying down the street, sirens screaming out their warnings. Several corners were torn around, with appropriate complaints from a semi-crushed junior paramedic. Stephan was soaking it all up; it was an exciting, adrenaline-surging run!
"There, I can see the smoke," Johnny pointed ahead at a mult-story office building. Flames and black smoke poured out of second-floor broken windows. As they came into the parking lot Roy selected a good spot to set up their equipment. Mike pulled the engine nearby and the lines men leaped down to get the hoses attached to hydrants.
Stanley found several people with plenty to tell him. Listening intently he called in for a second station.
"Roy! Johnny!" he yelled. "Four people missing at the least!" A wave and soon the two paramedics were ready to go in, leaving Stephan to set up triage. Chet and Marco were pulling hose up stairs.
"Better do a quick run over the second floor," Desoto determined. "Then up."
"I'll go left," Gage agreed. Soon they were checking offices. Two people were in a bathroom and Roy herded them down the stairs before returning to his search.
Second floor secured, both men climbed up to the top, fifth, floor. It was smokier up there, harder to see. They moved together down the hallway checking offices as the went, keeping in contact. After five minutes they were moving down to the fourth floor and once more began checking each office.
As they moved down to the third floor it became warmer. They encountered a locked door and with some force managed to open it.
"Roy!" Gage hit his shoulder and pointed across the room. Two people were crouched in the corner nearly unconscious. The two paramedics quickly lifted each up, the senior had to drape his victim over his shoulder and back. The other was semi mobile and Johnny was able to pull him out of the room behind his friend.
Flames had reached the hall near the stairwell. It was hot, smokey, and dangerous. Roy had a difficult time maneuvering past the smoking fire door. As he finally navigated the tight corner Johnny followed, being sure his victim was next to the railing and not the walls.
Unfortunately, the vic was not steady on his feet and he lurched against the paramedic who hit the door hard, splitting the stressed wood. For a long moment Johnny struggled with his air tank trying to free himself, then gave up and popped the straps releasing himself.
Now free, and breathing in smoke, he returned to his victim and propelled him downward. By the time they hit the bottom floor the paramedic was coughing just as badly as the two rescued people.
First things first, the victims were dropped off at triage and then John rushed to the captain reporting his scba was trapped. There was a very real danger of it exploding. Then back to triage. Roy had popped his mask off and was quickly accessing injuries. Brice and Bellingham had suited up and were heading in to check the first floor.
"Here," Stephan passed over an oxygen mask to a grateful partner. Sinking back Gage just sucked in the clean air trying to expel all the smoke that was residing in his lungs. He listened to Roy call in the three victims, grimacing as he realized he was the third. Coughing too much to complain, Johnny threw a glare in his partner's direction.
Their attention was momentarily captured as a small explosion rocked the air around them. The scba just went up. Hopefully no one caught any shrapnel. Gage watched as the snorkel truck came into play, it's powerful jet plying water through the windows. The sheer volume soon had white, steaming smoke going up.
Brice and Bellingham came back empty-handed, although not without injury. In short order the laid back member of the team stripped off his tank then Brice's exposing a ragged cut on his partner's forearm.
"Ya really should be more careful," he clucked as he poured some saline over the wound. "Gonna need a couple of stitches."
"I was not at fault!" Brice growled. "I followed the rules for engaging in search and rescue!"
"Too bad the fire didn't follow the rules," he retorted. "Next time use your eyes, not your brain!" They continued to squabble back and forth causing much amusement for Roy and Johnny. Stephan didn't know the two other paramedics and couldn't appreciate the turn of events.
As the victims were packed up for transport Stephan suggested that Roy drive the squad. Agreeing, Johnny was tucked into the ambulance with the injured woman and Brice rode in with the man from the third floor.
An hour later found the three paramedics heading back to the station hoping for lunch. John had been cleared, although he had a breathing treatment and an admonishment to let Roy listen to his lungs every two hours.
"I got to man the gauges!" Maddie sang in a soft voice so only Stephan could hear.
"Really?" he was impressed. "Didn't think any engineer would let someone else play with their machine!"
"Captain Stanley pulled him to help with the hoses for part of the fire, until the snorkel got there," the engineer explained with a big smile. Stephan slapped him on the shoulder with a chuckle.
"Matt and Cap were right," he declared. "This is a way kewl place to work!" Going into the kitchen they were soon eating cold gazpacho soup with sandwiches.
"This is good!" Maddie exclaimed. Marco grinned and blushed a little.
"Yeah, momma makes it when it's hot," he replied. "Lots of good veggies and the salt helps with the hydration issues." He shook some tabasco sauce on his and Stephan took it next, putting a lot less in his.
The afternoon was a whirl-wind of heat-related rescues, the squad and engine constantly on the jump. Stephan and Maddie were included in all activities from the word go and performed well. The 24 hour shift passed quickly and soon the men were once more separating to go home.
Johnny spent the day between laundry and yard work, definitely enjoying the sun baking down on his body. He had been sore from being wretched at the fire and his muscles approved of the warmth. When Kel made it home he found dinner in the oven and his room mate sprawled over the couch watching his cherished 'Adam 12'.
Sunday began a 48. Sundays were the worst days for rescue given the sheer number of people out enjoying the parks and the beaches. They were not disappointed.
The squad had logged 10 calls before dinner, three requiring some fancy climbing to retrieve victims. Sweat was pouring down their backs as they limped into Rampart with the latest run, a broken leg from horsing around on skateboards.
Dixie took pity on them, handing out cold water and ice packs. Johnny flung himself on the lounge in the doctor's room, ice pack on his face covering his eyes. Roy followed suit, a little more dignified, and put his pack on the back of his neck.
Stephan was just glad to have cold water to trickle down his throat, although he also shifted the ice pack to different parts of his torso to cool off.
"I seem to recall we missed lunch," Gage grumbled from beneath his pack.
"Yeah, but Chet was cookin' so did we really 'miss' it?" Roy pointed out.
"Huh, forgot about that," came the reply. "Maybe we can run through a hamburger stand and grab a bite." Stephan second this idea with a semi-rousing affirmation. Ice packs were rinsed and put back in the freezer, cups were drained, washed and put on the drainer.
Hamburgers, fries, and shakes were bought. The shakes were gone by the time they made it back to the station. The solid food went just as fast once they'd seated themselves. Mike had wandered in and snagged fries from both Johnny and Roy, who didn't complain.
"Hey! Your gonna spoil your appetites for dinner," Chet complained as he came into the kitchen. "I got a new recipe I want to try out!" Roy rolled his eyes.
"Great, either it will be disgusting or we'll end up at Rampart to get our stomaches pumped," he said.
"Is that any way to talk about my cooking?"Kelly complained.
"Well, no," Johnny considered. "Usually we're hugging the bowl before Rampart is ever contacted." With a huff Chet left the room.
"You know, he's marinating some pork ribs and he's put together coleslaw," Mike commented. "Actually looks edible."
"Wow!" Gage said. "Surprise, surprise!"
"Maybe Chet will have passable food tonight."
Soon another call, child down, came over the speakers and the squad was on the run again. This turned out to be pretty simple, getting a child out of a climbing apparatus he'd been stuck in. Then immediately whisked down the road to yet another broken leg, this time at the beach.
"I swear these skate boarders are not smart!" Stephan said to Johnny as they followed the ambulance back to Rampart.
"Yeah, we keep getting more and more of self-inflicted injuries," Gage elaborated. "Kids just don't realize how fragile their bodies really are!"
"Well, at least when you surf you can land in the water," the Hawaiian pointed out.
"Unless there's some rocks," the Californian said seriously.
"Awue! You're right about that!" he responded. "I conveniently forgot about coral and the cuts." Johnny backed into the ER parking area and soon they deposited their latest patient into Morton's capable hands.
Finally back at the station ribs were being doled out by a grinning linesman.
"Uh, Chet?" Marco hedged. "These look a little, uh, crispy."
"Naw! They're just perfect!" the mustached wonder stated. "I figured they'd need a little extra cooking time since the coals were low."
The paramedics watched the faces of their colleagues as the attempted to wrestle some meat off the bones. They were unsuccessful. Cole slaw was passed around, but Hank took one look at the glutenous mixture and handed it off immediately. It appeared that the cook hadn't quite followed the ingredients list and had done some creative substituting.
"Now would be a good time for a run," Roy muttered as he eyed the shriveled meat on his plate. Of course, there were no tones for over an hour.
"Tomorrow I'm putting Johnny on cooking," Cap decided. "Chet, you can do John's latrines tomorrow." When Kelly started to whine he received seven glares.
"Geeze, he'll just cook hotdogs and hamburgers!" came the complaint.
"At least they'll be edible although not creative," Mike grumbled tossing an inedible rib to the plate.
"Hey, I'll do poor man's roast!" Johnny said. "I have pork chops in my freezer. We'll swing by after a run to Rampart." This received happy smiles from everyone including Chet.
"Ok, so I don't mind latrine so much," he agreed. Johnny put together a grocery list and took suggestions from his crew mates for breakfast and lunch.
Of course, the runs continued with three additional after midnight. Broken sleep was not the best thing for the hard-working men, but they had no choice. Since the squad came back just after six, the three paramedics took turns showering and putting together pancakes and sausage for breakfast.
Cap decided to have a more quiet day, no drills or discussions were planned as long as his men stayed out of trouble. Even the Phantom was glad for the reprieve and hid. As they were reading newspapers and sipping coffee the phone rang.
"Station 51, Captain Stanley speaking," Hank said. "Oh, good morning Dr. Morton! What can I do for you? Ah, you need Johnny to come over? Is there something wrong? Ok, I guess I understand. I'll send the squad over. Yes, about twenty minutes. Goodbye."
Roy and Johnny exchanged confused glances as they waited for their captain to relay whatever message there was.
"Well, John, seems Dr. Morton needs you down at the ER," he said. "Wouldn't elaborate, said it was personal."
"That's weird," the junior paramedic said. "Morton barely speaks to me."
"Yeah, I agree," Roy added, "although he usually rides you pretty hard when you go in hurt."
"Look Roy, put yourself in service once you get to Rampart," Hank decided. "You and Stephan here can handle any runs if John gets tied up."
The three paramedics climbed into the squad. Gage kept trying to figure out exactly what he'd done that would cause Morton to call him in. He had very little contact with the young ER doctor that shift.
"Well, no reason to worry about it, Junior!" Roy said. "You'll find out soon enough."
The squad pulled into a space near the ER receiving doors. With a shrug Stephan grabbed the supplies list.
"Might as well stock up," he muttered. Together they entered the hospital and headed for the nurses' station. Dixie seemed agitated, standing up against Dr. Early. Morton was standing a bit off, arms folded.
"Good, you've made it," he said quickly.
"Mike, we told you not to bother Johnny!" Dixie scolded him.
"Who else will he talk to?" the younger doctor said with sharp accusation. "You? Joe? The officer? He shut you all out!" Now Johnny was more confused.
"What's going on?" he asked. Dixie shifted uneasily.
"There was a strung-out addict with a gun," she began. "He demanded morphine. Held the gun to Kel and made me pull out the bottles."
"When he swung the gun on Dixie Kel tried to push him off," Joe picked up the story. "He got hit on the side of the head with the gun and kicked in the ribs for good measure."
"Now he's shut up in his office refusing to talk with anyone," Morton said. "And he won't let us treat his wound." Gage understood, as well as he could. Sounded like his uptight, in control friend was not handling the aftermath well.
"Ok, let me get some supplies," he said, moving towards the supplies area. He pulled out saline, gauze, bandages and other paraphernalia to help his friend. He pulled out a set of scrubs as well. He set this in a small box with two coffee mugs that he filled from the urn at the station.
"Don't bug us," he said. "I'll call you," and he walked down the hall to Brackett's office.
It was fortunate the door was unlocked. He simply walked in.
"Leave!" Brackett demanded without looking up. Gage just shut the door behind him and walked over to the desk.
Doc was reading a file - upsidedown. He'd bled onto his shirt and pants, not bothering to even do a rudimentary wipe. The paramedic set the box down and placed one cup of coffee in front of his friend and pulled out the saline and gauze. Brackett glanced at the man.
"You're ok," he snarled. Without a word Johnny began cleaning the head wound, wiping down the blood to the cut. Since it was a clean gash, he used a little antiseptic and three small butterflies. Gauze and lightly taped. Then he cleaned up the rest of the bloody drips.
"Turn," he said firmly. The doctor turned his chair and sat like a lump while his tie was removed and shirt unbuttoned. He was stripped down and a clean scrub shirt pulled over. Gage checked the bruised ribs. Nothing broken. Gauze and tape to support the rib cage.
"Up," pants next, shoes toed off. Scrubs pulled on. Shoes put back on.
"Couch," next command. Brackett started to balk, but Gage was not going to let the man have his way. He pushed him over to the couch, made him sit down and handed him the still warm mug of coffee. Johnny then folded up the soiled clothing, putting wallet and keys in the top desk drawer. He picked up his coffee and a small packet of tylenol, two were handed over to the hurt doctor.
Without comment Kel swallowed the pills and allowed his friend to sit next to him on the couch.
"What happened?" Johnny asked. At first nothing was said. Brackett shifted then leaned a little more against his friend borrowing his calm strength.
"Drug addict. Looking for a fix," he stated succinctly.
"And he had a gun?" a push.
"And he had a gun. He demanded morphine," the doctor said. "Then, then he turned the gun on Dixie." A long shiver.
"You wanted to protect her," Johnny said. "I understand. You were really scared and then Dixie was threatened. I would do anything to protect Dix." Kel shifted again, closer if possible.
"He, he hit me," whispered. "Hard. Then when I hit the ground he kicked me. I couldn't do anything! He could have killed her! He could have killed me!"
"Can't begin to predict an addict," Gage agreed.
"You, you handled that one addict, last summer," Kel said.
"I was scared to death, nearly wet my pants," the paramedic said. "Plus I was kidnapped by those two dealers. I never want to be on the wrong side of a gun again!"
"Then once he got the vials he turned to walk down the hall," Kel continued. "There was a cop, brought in a suspect. He just waited and pressed a gun to the guy's head and cuffed him." Now the doctor pressed his head against Johnny's shoulder.
"Just like that! No drama! No threats!" his voice wavered. "Guy just gave up! I was worthless! I was just gun fodder! Dixie could have died!"
"But she didn't!" Gage immediately jumped in. "She's fine. A little rattled, but fine. And except for the cut and the bruise you're just fine, too!"
"I didn't do anything! I was useless!" the doctor lamented.
"KEL! You could have been killed!" Johnny stressed. "Dixie could have been killed. You did what you had to do. If that guy walked out with the vials, who cares?! You are both safe. That's the most important part." He finally was able to put his arm over his room mate's shoulder and hold tight. Kel didn't need to cry, but he needed the strength and understanding of a man who'd survived the same thing he had.
"Yeah," came the subdued reply.
"Think you can give a statement to the officer?" Johnny prompted.
"Yeah, if you stay," Brackett said.
"Of course I'll stay!" Johnny said firmly, shaking his shoulder. "I'll be here!" They sat together a long moment then Johnny stood up and picked up the phone, asking the nurse at the desk to send the officer in for a statement.
Kel was able to give a good statement to the officer. Vince Howard had been sent in and that helped calm the doctor further. He gave a complete statement, giving a clear description of the entire 'incident'. Thanking him, Vince left to file his report.
"Ok, Doc, now you need to get back to work," Johnny stated. "I know Dix and Dr. Early are really worried."
"Did they call you?" he asked.
"No, Dr. Morton did," Gage replied. "He figured you'd do better with me."
"He's right," Kel admitted. "I feel safe with you." Gage just gave him a tight, one-armed hug.
"Yeah, I know," he said. "And I feel the same."
"Hey, I'm making that pork chop and stuffing dish at the station for dinner tonight," Johnny said. "If you want, you could stop by. I'll put aside a plate."
"I don't want to look that needy," Kel balked.
"Needy? Nah," the paramedic said. "You haven't had a chance to talk with Stephan or Maddie about their experiences over at the 8s, have you?"
"Uh, no," the doctor admitted. "You and Roy made sure to put Matt out there, and you even had Captain Itora here a couple times. So I did get to speak with them."
"So stop by after shift to speak with the other two," Johnny suggested. "Dinner's just the added benefit! You can pick up ice cream." Kel thought a moment then smiled.
"Ok, I can do that," he said.
"And if you are a little uneasy about being at the house alone tonight you can just conveniently be too tired to drive home," Johnny said. "There's a couple extra bunks and I can take a bunk next to you in case you have problems sleeping."
"Now that sounds really needy!" Kel said. Johnny shrugged.
"I slept on Roy's bedroom floor after that gun incident last year," he admitted. "Jenny and Chris joined me and declared it a family sleep-over. Roy and Joanne knew I was scared." Brackett just looked at his friend, his very honest, human friend.
If John Gage could admit he was afraid to his friend, and then to him, then maybe it would be Ok to be afraid and need support. Kel found himself nodding in agreement.
"Ok, if I need the company I'll be too tired to drive home," he said.
Together they got up off the couch.
"Guess I'm going to be in green the rest of the day," Kel laughed as he looked down at the scrubs.
"Ya look good and doctorish!" Johnny gave him a lopsided smile. Opening the door he followed his roomie out.
