Chapter 5

Earlier that morning…

"Roy! John!"

The two paramedics looked up from where they were administering oxygen to two of Station 8's men to see their Captain signaling to them. "I've got them, Gage." Johnny said a quick thank you to the paramedic from Station 16 and joined Roy who was making his way towards Captain Stanley.

"Sorry, guys but I'm going to have to send you in there again. We've almost got this thing knocked down, but the landlord just told me he thinks a guy on the 3rd floor is still in there."

Roy went back to grab their two air tanks while Cap went over the game plan with Johnny. "Now look. We've lost the front stairway so you're going to have to go around there to the south side. Those steps should be clear since we managed to keep the fire contained on the north end."

"Are we sure he's up there, Cap?" Johnny asked as he accepted his gear from Roy.

Stanley shook his head. "No, but the landlord is insisting. Says he saw the guy come home last night and he's not out here with the other victims. The apartments aren't numbered but he said it's the last one at the end of the hall." Stanley sighed in frustration. He was constantly amazed at the danger these old refurbished buildings held for their occupants and the ineptitude of the people who owned them. It seemed that it wasn't until after a devastating fire that it became clear how the simple idea of numbering an apartment might save someone's life.

Roy and Johnny turned towards the building but paused when Stanley's voice stopped them. "Remember, in and out boys. Don't know when this building is gonna go. Keep your ears open for the all clear." The partners nodded and then set out on a trot towards the south entrance.

"Lopez and Kelly. Cover those guys on the south side! They get into trouble I want you there for backup!"

Inside the building, the paramedics made their way up the staircase with Roy in the lead. Their progress was slowed by the stray piece of debris but for the most part, the evidence of fire was minimal. There was however a great deal of smoke. As they neared the third floor landing, Johnny shouted at Roy to slow down. "I don't want to lose sight of you!"

"Gotcha!" Roy shouted back. He stopped at the landing and waited for Johnny to catch up. He vaguely remembered that neither one of them had eaten for the last 12 hours. They had just gotten back to the station when the alarms sounded for this fire. Now, as they entered the hallway, they were taken aback by the amount of debris in the hallway. The entire ceiling had caved in, most likely from the firefighting efforts on the other side of the building. The old building couldn't withstand the amount of water being used to fight back the flames. The two men began to carefully pick their way around the obstacles in search of the correct apartment. "Whoa, Roy! Stop." Gage had reached out and tagged Roy on the shoulder. They both stood still. "Hear that?" After a moment, Roy shook his head and started moving again but stopped when Johnny pulled on his arm. He heard it this time. It was a weak call for help to their left. So much for the victim being in the last apartment. Simultaneously, the two turned to the door next to them. Roy tried to open it but could only move it part way. With both their weight on the door, they managed to push it open enough to get into the apartment. Piles of ceiling tiles, furniture and old wooden beams filled the living room of the small apartment.

"Hello?" Johnny yelled, removing his mask.

"In here!" came the weak reply. The call was followed by a series of coughs.

The two firemen moved towards the voice coming from a back bedroom. It looked like the biggest part of the collapsed ceiling had landed right here in that room. Both struggled to locate the victim through the lingering smoke and dust.

"There!" Roy pointed towards the outer wall where a man's leg and torso could be seen under a large piece of ceiling tile. Both men grabbed the tile and pushed it aside only to reveal a heavy wooden beam laying across the young man's chest.

"Oh God, I thought no one would hear me. It was so hard to yell. So hard to breathe…" Another fit of coughing, sent alarm bells off for the two paramedics. This guy was in bad shape.

Johnny knelt down beside the victim and placed a hand on his stomach in an effort to calm him and to try to get a tentative respiration count. "Hey now, just calm down. We got you now." Roy managed to maneuver above the man's head and give him some air from his mask. Roy searched the area for something to use as a lever to lift up the beam. He wasn't sure that he and Johnny could move the beam without the risk of injuring the man more. His eyes landed on a piece of the headboard from the demolished bed.

"What's your name," Johnny asked while he tried to examine the victim for breaks and any injury to his back.

"Jake. Jake Wilson."

Johnny noted that Jake was having more and more difficulty in breathing. The adrenaline was wearing off now that he and Roy had arrived. He had a feeling if they didn't get that beam removed in the next few seconds, Jake was going to be in real big trouble.

"Here, Johnny. Help me with this."

The two partners worked the broken piece of furniture under the beam and began to lever it off the victim. Just as it started to move they heard a sharp intake of breath from Jake. "Roy, you hold it and I'll pull him out."

"Back injuries?" Roy puffed out, holding the weight of the beam on his own as Johnny had already moved to grab Jake by the legs.

"I think he's good, and also, I don't think we have a choice. That beam is smothering him."

Roy nodded and with a grunt he lifted the beam another inch. It was all Johnny needed to pull Jake free from the beam. As Roy released the beam, he heard Johnny yell, "Respiratory arrest!"

They both moved in tandem. They had done this kind of medical rescue dozens of time. Rescue breathe and get him on oxygen. The complication was moving the injured man out of the building. Roy reached for his radio to ask Chet to grab a stokes. At the same time, the alarm sounded for a complete evacuation. That meant the building was in imminent danger of total collapse. He looked at his partner. "You carry him and I'll lead the way."

With Roy's help, Johnny threw the unconscious victim over his shoulder and then followed Roy out the door and down the hallway. If they had had more time, they would have got the stokes and carried Jake out to minimize any further injury or complicating the ones he already had. If they had had the time, they would have continued rescue breathing. If they had had more time.

In less than 90 seconds, they were down the stairs and exiting the south entrance where an anxious Marco and Chet greeted them. The four firemen ran towards the safety of the fire vehicles as they heard the rumbling and felt the earth beneath their feet start to tremble. Just as they reached the triage area, the north side of the building collapsed in on itself with the last wall of the south side refusing to crumble. It was all that stood standing from its long battle with a night of flames.

"He's still not breathing, Roy!"

The paramedics went to work in an attempt to save Jake Wilson. Rampart gave permission for an airway and Roy began bagging. Johnny started an IV and recorded the vitals. Once that was done, Johnny ripped open the victim's shirt to check for other injuries. His breath caught and Roy grimaced as the massive bruising on Jake's torso was revealed. If the chest injury didn't kill him, the internal bleeding would.

"Rampart, there is evidence of massive internal hemorrhaging in the victim's abdominal cavity."

"Transport victim immediately."

"10-4, Rampart."

Johnny closed the bio phone, setting it gently at the end of the gurney bearing Jake. He reached to grab the med kit while helping Roy and the ambulance attendant lift their victim into the back of the ambulance. The two shot a knowing glance at each other. This kid wasn't going to make it. They both knew it. "I'll go," said Roy quietly. "It's my turn."

Johnny nodded, closed the doors on the ambulance and gave the two thumps for the all clear sign. Normally, Johnny might have climbed in too. But there was no need. Jake Wilson essentially had died on the floor of his apartment when he stopped breathing. Roy was riding to the hospital per protocol.

Kelly Brackett looked at the young paramedic as he finished telling the doctor the story of the early morning rescue that had ended in Jake Wilson's death. Roy had radioed their Captain to let Johnny know that the victim was pronounced DOA at the hospital. The cause of death was due to internal injuries and suffocation. The damage done to Jake's lungs was so severe, the other internal injuries didn't matter. If they could have gotten to him sooner, they might have saved him. There was no way of knowing if that were true and none of that seemed to matter now.

Johnny took a last swig of the orange juice Dixie had handed him on his ride into Dr. Brackett's office. The dizziness had passed almost as quickly as it had come on and he had since moved to the sofa. He didn't want to play victim by remaining in that wheelchair. He drank the juice knowing that it would help him recover quickly and he could go see Roy. Brackett had come in and asked him if he wanted to talk. Ten minutes later, the story about Jake was out and Johnny was feeling emotionally and physically drained. He also felt deeply saddened and even embarrassed.

He looked up at Dr. Brackett who was leaning on his desk with his arms crossed in front of him. How many times had he seen that stance? It was his concerned and "I'm listening" stance. The only thing that was out of place was the bandage on the doctor's forehead. Another reminder of what could have been. He glanced down at his own bandage. Just a cut. A cut he got on the steel from the squashed helmet when he grabbed it off of Roy's chest.

"Johnny, it's no wonder you reacted the way you did. Not only were you physically depleted but to see Roy in similar circumstances to your victim was psychologically and emotionally jarring."

Johnny jumped up from his seat and placed the glass firmly on the desk. "Yeah, well Doc! I'm supposed to be a professional though." He started pacing between the door and the desk. He locked eyes with Brackett on his third turn and stopped. One hand on his hip and the other splayed against his chest, Johnny let loose. "I'm not the victim here. Roy's the one injured. He could have died. I get all shook up and collapse like a…like a …pansy!" He shook his head and started the pacing again. "Nah, I'm supposed to be able to deal with this stuff. This life and death crap. Be able to deal with it and not fall apart. I've been trained to do that. Not fall apart!" Those last three words were accompanied by a right fist pounding the palm of the left hand.

Brackett saw the little flinch of pain caused by Johnny smacking the hand with the cut. He watched as the pacing stopped and the shoulders began to droop. Although Johnny had his back to the doctor, Kel was pretty sure he knew what the next words that would come out of the young man's mouth. He was right.

"I guess, I'm only human," Johnny muttered.

Kel pushed up from the desk and closed the gap between himself and Johnny. He put an arm around the paramedic's shoulder and lightly punched him in the arm. "What's that, Johnny? No red cape today?

Johnny lightly fingered the bandage that covered the cut on his hand. No, he wasn't a super hero. He was a human being who got into this business because he was human. Because he cared. And every now and then, due to horrendous circumstances, his body and his mind were going to rebel on him and crack that armor of tough guy machismo. Superman he was not. Just an ordinary guy frustrated when young men died for no apparent reason and careless people put other lives, people he cared about, in mortal danger.

Kelly misunderstood Johnny's silence for continued defeatism. Leaving the previous attempt at humor behind, he launched in to his mentoring role. "John. Roy and you are partners. Whether you like it or not, you are dependent upon each other in situations that I can only imagine. Today, you witnessed the death of a victim and came very close to witnessing the death of your friend, in an eerily similar circumstance."

Johnny looked up. "That was it Doc. When Roy stopped breathing, I thought…I thought that…"

The words wouldn't come. Brackett continued to massage Johnny's shoulder. Before he could say anything else, the door to his office opened. Dixie McCall looked at the two men and briefly considered retreating. Instead she said, "Thought you'd want an update on Roy."

"Can I see him?" Johnny asked.

"Well, you can. But I think he's finally getting some rest. You can go in there, but if you wake him up, John Gage, so help me…" She put on the sternest face she could muster as she shook her finger in Johnny's direction.

John held out his hands. "I promise." He went back to the couch to retrieve Roy's flattened helmet and his own gear. Just before exiting, he turned to Dr. Brackett. "Thanks, Doc."

"Is he going to be alright, Kel?" Dixie asked when she was sure the door had closed all the way.

The doctor sighed. "He's going to be just fine, Dix. It may take a few days, but he'll be just fine. Now, tell me about Roy's injuries."