Dr. Brackett, who had taken the liberty of setting up a tray in the exam room before Johnny even arrived, kneeled over Johnny and listened to his chest; running the bell of the stethoscope from one side of his chest to the other. Bellingham was pumping air manually while a Dixie prepared the respirator to keep Johnny breathing.
Marco had followed the gurney and assisted in transporting Johnny from the gurney to the exam table.
"Dixie prepare to insert a chest tube." Dr. Brackett swung his stethoscope around his neck. "And prepare an O.R., we need to get his lung re-inflated."
"Right away, Kel."
Marco watched in stunned silence at the scene unfolding before him. He was a firefighter, not a paramedic. Seeing the emergency medical procedures in the raw was something he wasn't accustomed to witnessing.
"Marco," Dixie could feel his tension. "I've already called JoAnne, she'll need someone to talk to."
"Oh, okay. I'll go..." He looked at Johnny's sickly pale and cyanotic complexion once last time. "I'll go wait for her."
As the prepared tray was wheeled over to Dr. Brackett he took the time to acknowledge Dixie's grace in the face of tragedy. "Thanks Dixie, that was the perfect solution."
Dixie began cutting away the rest of Johnny's white t-shirt, fully exposing his bandaged chest. Fortunately for her Bellingham and Mike had slipped Johnny's thick turnout coat from his body before loading him into the ambulance. Carefully she cut away the white fabric of the bandages to reveal the laceration and bruise that accompanied the rib fractures and collapsed lung.
Dr. Brackett took a swab of iodine and disinfected the side of Johnny's rib cage. "I'm glad he's unconscious for this part."
Dr. Early was examining the various x-rays taken of Roy's skull, neck and spine with Dr. Morton at his side. "Look at that Mike," he pointed to a small dark imperfection on one of the skull x-rays. "hairline fracture of the occipital bone."
Dr. Morton shook his head. "I guess all things considered it could be alot worse."
"Yeah, I just wish I knew exactly what happened. His injuries are consistent with a fall but until he wakes up and tells us what happened..."
"Is there any sign of intracranial hemorrhage?"
"No, fortunately. Blood pressure and respiration are all normal. I will need a little help popping his shoulder back into place. Care to join me doctor?"
"Of course." Dr. Morton unwrapped Roy's shoulder while Dr. Early studied the x-ray of the injured shoulder. The two men prepared to remedy the dislocated shoulder by the only means deemed proper: Pulling. "I'm glad he's unconscious for this part."
Marco and Mike were in the waiting room anxiously awaiting an update on their downed colleagues. Neither of them knew what was happening with Roy and they hadn't seen their Captain.
Chet had been wheeled in an exam room of his own where an orthopedic surgeon had volunteered to assist with the many victims of that day's fire. Fortunately for Chet this doctor had a soft spot for firefighters.
Bellingham had rejoined with his partner Brice in the doctor's lounge and now the two men were approaching the waiting room with their restocked drug box in hand. Brice greeted the two waiting firefighters. "Stoker, Lopez, how are the others?"
Mike just shook his head while Marco answered in a somber tone. "We don't know."
Brice offered an unexpected sympathetic gesture. "Doctors Brackett, Early and Morton are three of the best doctors in the county. They'll pull through but you have to be patient. And I know it's difficult to play the waiting game."
"Yeah, thanks Brice."
"If you need anything call the station, Bob and I will be happy to help."
"Thanks again, Brice."
From behind the paramedic duo Mike spotted JoAnne walking into the hospital. He nudged Marco's arm.
"JoAnne," Marco approached the worried woman, a dear friend to the fire department and beloved family member to the station. "Roy's being examined right now." He took her hands and walked her to a seat in the waiting room. "He's unconscious but he's stable."
Brice and Bellingham discreetly and quietly left the hospital, knowing that with all of Station 51 incapacitated that the other stations would be required to fill in until replacements arrived.
Marco and Mike sat on either side of JoAnne in the waiting room, no one saying a word. What could they say? It was always bad enough when one man was injured in a fire, but that day the entire station was affected.
Dixie walked out of the exam room room where Johnny was being treated and spied the silent trio sitting together in the waiting room. She wanted desperately to sit down and explain everything to everyone but she herself didn't have all the answers. Not yet. But soon. Waiting could be just as much an ordeal for the doctors and nurses as it was for the friends and family of the patients being treated.
Chet walked out of his own exam room, although be it on crutches and with a little help from a nurse, and hobbled toward Dixie who was sitting behind her desk in the bay station. "Hey Dixie, how are the guys?"
Dixie looked up at Chet and forced herself to grin. "Still hanging on. How's your ankle?"
"Fractured in three places. What about Marco and Mike? They got banged up, too."
"Then I'll have them checked out in exam room four. Meanwhile, could you..."
"You don't even have to ask, of course I'll stay with JoAnne."
"You're a pussycat." She teased.
Chet appreciated her kind ribbing. "I prefer 'Phantom', but pussycat isn't bad. Where's Cap?"
"He's in exam room two. He collapsed earlier."
...to be continued...