Spike's Prize, Noah's Plan, Maisie Get My Bag, Who to Call & Scott's Bright Idea

Hospital – IT Closet

Spike messed with the CB radio for quite some time. He was frustrated. He had got it working but it was dead air on every channel he tried. He figured that only truckers really used CBs anymore. They had fallen out of fashion with all but the most die-hard users. In the age of cell phones and video games he could see kids being uninterested in them.

He sat back after trying the last channel for the tenth time. Spike checked his watch. They had been at the hospital for almost two hours now. He wondered if Ron was back with Doc Landry yet.

Pushing up from the chair he decided it was time to check on Sam and Scott and give Scott the not so good news. He was tired and his foot caught on the edge of the shelving unit as he passed it.

It started to tip over. Spike reached up and caught it but several things toppled off the very top shelf. He took a moment to steady himself after the fright. Spike could just see himself lying on the floor with the stupid shelf on top of him. Scott and Sam would laugh at him for being a klutz.

Spike bent down to retrieve the fallen items. No way! "Hot Damn" was yelled loudly as Spike picked up a box from the floor. He opened it quickly hoping it wasn't just a box that had been reused for something else.

His face split into a huge grin. He headed back to the ER with his prize. It was better than anything he had ever gotten out of a cracker-jack box.

Sno-cat Enroute to General Store

Ron saw the strobing red and blue lights ahead. It was a police car from the RCMP and it was stuck in the snow drift at the edge of the road. It looked like it careened off the road. Ron wondered how long the officer had been stuck and if he had radioed for help.

He slowed the sno-cat and then put his full face mask on again. He hopped out and made his way to the car. He knocked on the window then leaned down as the window opened slightly.

The officer said "What are you doing out in the storm?"

Ron grinned "I could ask you the same officer. Looks like you are stuck and not going anywhere for quite some time. I have a sno-cat. I could offer you a ride if you have not already radioed for assistance. I'm on my way to the general store to get the surgeon. He is needed at the hospital."

The officer could not believe his luck "Good. I have a prisoner in need of a surgeon. Radio is down. Was hoping someone would come along." He opened the door and stepped out.

Ron noticed the ill-fitting uniform and no name tag. He said "Haven't seen you around these parts before. Officer ?"

Seeing where the man was looking the officer quickly replied "Officer Barton. I just transferred here." Then he went around to the back and opened the door.

Ron could see a prisoner was lying on the seat and clearly bleeding from his shoulder. Looking at the officer Ron asked "What happened?"

Pulling on the prisoner he answered "Tried to escape. Car skidded on the ice and I crashed. The back doors opened. The two of them ran for it."

"Two?" Ron asked only seeing one prisoner and looking around him. He was unable to see more than a few feet around him.

The officer pulled up his pants that were sagging and said "Yeah, one of them didn't make it. He is covered by the snow. I'll have to retrieve him later."

Ron nodded and wondered again about the ill-fitting uniform. It looked like the officer had lost a lot of weight. He should have gotten a new uniform Ron thought. He pushed that aside and helped the officer get the prisoner into the back of the sno-cat.

The officer climbed up in the back and said "I better sit where I can keep a closer eye on him. Don't want a repeat but he ain't really in no condition for that right now."

Ron nodded and headed around to the other side and climbed into the driver's seat. He turned in his seat to look at the officer as the warmth in the cab started to thaw him out again and said "Good thing I came along. You surely would have frozen to death out here before the snow plows make it this far."

The officer said "Yes it is a good thing."

Ron smiled and said "How bout some music? I got, country, country or country" The officer just chuckled and nodded. Ron turned up the music and got the sno-cat in motion again. His concentration was now fully on driving in the storm and keeping his eyes out for any other potentially stranded motorists.

The prisoner looked at the officer and unknown to Ron whispered "Why didn't you just kill him and be done with it Noah."

Noah looked at his brother and said "Quiet Jonas, it is better this way. He thinks I'm the cop. You need a surgeon to get that bullet out. We'll steal the sno-cat and be long gone after you are taken care of."

Jonas sat back and nodded. Noah's plan would work. His shoulder hurt like a bitch and he knew he had lost a lot of blood. If they were to get away clean he needed the bullet out. That damned cop had shot him.

Noah took care of that stupid cop though. He smashed the cop's head in with a rock when he had bent down to check on his bullet wound. It was a good thing the cop was about the same size as Noah. But the cop was fatter than Noah, so the pants didn't fit too well.

When Noah first started to strip the dead cop he had asked what the hell he was doing. That's when Noah said he would pretend to be the cop so they could get away if help came along. It was a long shot but damn it was going to work.

General Store

Banging on the door alerted Landry and Maisie to someone being out in the storm. Landry said "It's like a damned thoroughfare in here Maisie. Don't folks know there is a storm out there?"

Maisie headed for the door and called back "It might be Scott on his way back. I sure hope he got help for his cousin."

She opened the door and instantly recognized the snowsuit even though she could not see the face "Ron. Dear boy get in here." She pulled Ron into the store and closed the door "What are you doing out in this mess dear boy?"

Landry had finally made it to the store area "Ron my boy. Checking up on us? No need too we are snug as a bug here."

Ron smiled. He like the Craig's. They always treated him so nicely and always called him boy. It was one of the things he liked living in this area. Everyone looked out for everyone. Sure there were a few cantankerous or standoffish folks but overall the small town was a nice place to be.

He said "Doc Landry, Scott made it to the lodge on your snowmobile. How that old thing made it there I'll never know. Used the sno-cat to get his cousin to the Craig Hospital."

Landry smiled. He knew he had done the right thing years ago establishing a small hospital here. It wasn't the biggest, heck it was little more than an urgent care facility but it was there when an emergency arose and help was needed immediately. He handed off the running of it to Dr. Howard when he retired.

"Good. Good. I'm so glad. So what are you doing back out" Landry asked.

Ron said "We have a bit of a problem. We got Sam to the hospital but Dr. Howard is not there. Neither is Dr. Lennex and you know Dr. Mauja always visits his family in the Northwest Territories this time of year. The new resident Dr. Vanessa Chardin is there. But they have a little boy that needs an appendectomy and …"

Landry interrupted "Maisie get my bag and our outerwear please a little boy needs me."

Maisie said "I'll get your gear honey but I can just stay here."

Landry looked at her "Not leaving you alone here my dear. Get both now please. No arguing my love."

When Maisie headed off Landry asked "This Dr. Chardin, is she experienced?"

"Minna said Vanessa has been there a month. She was reading up on the surgery in case she had to do it. She's never done one herself" Ron shared. Then he added "Paula and Felix are not there either. No one to run the lab tests to see if Sam has MRSA. He's in bad shape; hallucinating and high fever. From what I heard he doesn't do well on some medications and they cannot contact his main doctor for information."

Landry took all this in "After you drop me perhaps you should go get Dr. Howard too."

Ron shook his head "That flu has him. He had to leave before shift ended which is why Dr. Lennex is not there. The phones went down before they could call him."

Maisie rushed back with their gear, Landry's medical bag and a huge container. As they dressed Ron asked "What's in the container?"

She smiled "Chicken soup of course. You look fair to midlin and tuckered out. You could use something warm in your belly."

That made Ron remember "Oh Doc. I have two other passengers, an officer and his prisoner. The prisoner has been shot. Found them on the roadside on my way here."

Landry said "Maisie grab some bandages please. I'll see what I can do as we go."

They readied and headed out into the storm. Ron helped both Landry and Maisie make it to the sno-cat. Landry got into the rear with the prisoner between him and the officer. Maisie was helped up into the front of the cab.

Hospital – ER Treatment Area

Spike sauntered in with a happy look on his face calling out "Lookie what I found."

Minna quickly ran to him "Shhhh. They are both sleeping."

Very quietly but no less happy Spike showed Minna the box. She grinned "A satellite phone. You found a satellite phone. Where? How?"

Spike said "Just took a graceful move and a bit of luck." When Minna looked at him confused he confessed "Nearly toppled the shelving unit onto me. It was on the top shelf. I'm hoping the fall didn't damage it."

Looking at Scott he said "I wanted to ask Scott who we should attempt to call to muster up the cavalry."

Minna looked at Spike "Muster up the cavalry?"

Vanessa walked in and saw the satellite phone in Spike's hand "Impressive. You make that appear out of thin air?"

Spike chuckled "Nah. Seems like your tech guy isn't quite in the stone ages. Found it on the top shelf. I had no luck reaching anyone via the CB radio. Was just gonna ask Scott which one of the Braddocks to call. Actually I was gonna let him make the call. Sam's dad can be scary when Sam is hurt and I don't know Scott's dad all that well."

Vanessa smiled. She liked the name Braddock. Her MBH Scholarship award was the Sara Yvonne Braddock award. There were three awards for the MBH scholarship. She had gotten the first ever SYB award. She wondered at the name.

It wasn't common but it wasn't rare either. Her high school biology teacher was actually named Braddock at least until she got married. Then she became Mrs. Vicky McKnight. She liked Mrs. McKnight a lot. Mrs. McKnight was the inspiration for her to decide to be a doctor. Heck she was the one that suggested she try for the MBH scholarship and even provided her the application paperwork.

She often wondered if there was a connection to Mrs. McKnight and the SYB award given her maiden name. But she never got a chance to ask. Mrs. McKnight moved away when her husband got stationed in British Columbia.

Vanessa was curious and asked "Why would you be calling a Braddock?"

Minna looked curious too and Spike said "Sam's dad is General Braddock of Special Forces and Scott's dad is Naval Commander Braddock. Hence the calling in the cavalry. Just not sure which one should be called. Not sure if Sam's dad is even in country."

The women looked at one another astonished. They were about to say something when they heard Ron call out from the ER entrance "Need some help here. Got an injured man."

Spike set the satellite phone on Scott's bed and hurried to the entrance to help.

Scott's Home

Laura paced holding Anna. For once Jerrell was the quieter of the two. He was snuggled close to Scott's shirt. It amazed her how quickly it settled them down. But Anna was colickly tonight.

Ann Braddock smiled and reached out her hands "Laura you look exhausted. Why don't you let me take a turn with her?"

A small sigh escaped Laura as she gratefully handed off Anna. She sat down and leaned her head back on the chair.

Yvonne came out of the kitchen carrying a tray "Laura dear you need to eat. I have a plate for you." She set the tray on the side table. Taking a napkin she placed it across Laura's lap and then set the plate down.

Taking the offered silverware from Yvonne, Laura smiled "You two are so good to me. Thank you. This looks delicious."

As Laura ate she watched Ann and Yvonne coo over the babies. She was so lucky. Without her mother around she would not have known quite how to handle things. Scott's Mom and Aunt had been a godsend. Thankfully Anna calmed and fell asleep. The silence was nice.

Ann asked "Have you heard from Scott yet?"

Laura finished her bite and said "No. I expected a call yesterday. They must be snowed in at the cabin. I wish I had insisted they take a satellite phone. But I trust they can take care of themselves."

Yvonne sat down "True but Scott did go skiing with Sam. My poor boy has the worst luck."

Laura chuckled "There is that I grant you. Darn. I really should have insisted. Those two together are trouble magnets."

Ann laughed "So true. I remember how they had to spend an entire weekend cleaning the red dye off your porch Yvonne. Oh and how many times did those two get into outrageous trouble in that tree house? I was never sure which one of them was the instigator."

Yvonne smiled "I think it was about equally split between Scott, Adam, Jeff and Sam. Although when they decided to build that ramp to slide down on that was all Scott and Sam. All four boys needed stitches that day. But they all learned something about how much weight a thin sheet of metal could hold."

Ann laughed "Oh speaking of metal you remember the time that Scott wanted to take Sam sledding but the plastic sleds were all broken? Sam was like three and Scott was eleven."

Nodding her head yes Yvonne replied "I sure do. Good thing they weren't killed."

Laura said "I haven't heard that one before."

Ann sat forward "Imagine this. A metal oil drip pan. You know the large flat rectangular ones. Then add two holes punched into two corners and a rope threaded through. Got that image?"

Laura nodded "Sounds like a creative idea for a sled. Scott's idea?"

Yvonne nodded "Yeah."

Ann continued "Sounds good right? Metal would slide easily on snow. But Scott wanted to go faster. Scott got the bright idea to wax the bottom of the pan with car wax. Then when he was done he had Sam spray pledge all over it. You know that slippery spray wax. Then the boys headed up to the steepest hill out back."

Yvonne said "Erik, Ann and I were standing at the bottom of the hill when they started down. Scott sat behind Sam and they both held onto the rope. They were zipping so fast. But Scott weighing more than Sam caused the oil pan to turn around and head down the hill backwards."

Ann picked up the story "We were all screaming tree, tree, tree. They were headed straight for the tree at the bottom of the hill. They were laughing and shouting so loud they couldn't hear us or see the tree. Scott's head whacked into a tree limb and sent them both flying. We could see Scott was unmoving. I thought he was dead for a few minutes."

Yvonne added "We never ran so fast in the knee deep snow. It seemed like hours to get to the boys but was only minutes. I was freaking out at first. None of us could find Sam. That is not until Erik carefully rolled Scott over. Sam was buried underneath Scott."

Ann smiled "Sam had no clue what happened to Scott, that he had been knocked unconscious. Sam was only three so that is to be expected. When Erick uncovered him Sam was laughing, saying that was so fun and asking to go again. Luckily Scott roused quickly and only got a nasty bump to the head. No stitches needed that time."

Yvonne shook her head with a smile and said "I swear those two will be the death of us Ann. As I remember Erik threw away the oil pan, wax and pledge then went out and bought a new sled and helmets for the boys to wear that afternoon."

Laura looked at the babies "So you think that is what I'm in for with the twins?"

Ann patted her shoulder "I'm afraid so dear. That is unless they got your luck and not Scott's or Sam's."

"At least Scott knows what kind of mischief they are likely to get into. Perhaps he can head them off at the pass" Yvonne offered.

Laura sighed "More likely Scott will join in with them, especially if Sam comes to visit."

Yvonne and Ann just laughed.

Laura sighed looking at the phone and said again "I really should have insisted on Scott taking a satellite phone."