Here be Chappie 2: Poor Lou and the crew.
She woke with a start, covered in sweat, and feeling sick. It took her a second to realize she was at work in her own dorm as the dream that had awakened her still played. It was a hell of dream, her father had found where she was and when she came back to the Stanley's after a run she had found the family of four in the living room tied to chairs and beat to a pulp. She tried to apply first aid but every time she would stop the bleeding her father would come into view and hurt them again. She was running from member to member screaming and crying for him to stop then he stabbed her. The hilt of the blade sticking out from her belly causing her to fall over. The dream was so real her abdomen still hurt, probably from how tense I am. Slowly she sat on the edge of her bed and stood, the simple act of stretching out causing her pain to increase.
"Ouch." She mumbled and then shuffled out of her dorm. Another sharp stab to her belly caused her to double over. "Ah crap." She realized that while she had been sweating from the dream, she definitely had a fever, accompanied by the belly pain that had centralized further to her lower right side, and nausea spelled out one thing, hot appy. She had some minor symptoms all day but she equated it to her anxiety; lack of appetite, feeling flushed, twinges of pain, and higher than normal heart rate. Dammit! She would have laughed at the irony of a paramedic not knowing symptoms if it didn't hurt so much. She could no longer shuffle and was now on her hands and knees trying to crawl to the men's dorm but she knew she wasn't gonna be able to make it. There was a very real fear that her appendix was about to burst and if that happened she may not make it to her birthday. She flopped over to her back and saw the station's own fire alarm. If she could just pull this it would wake the men up and they could help her, plus dispatch half the battalion their way. She didn't know what else to do. She scooted over to the wall powered by her legs in short bursts and then sat against the wall, applying counter pressure to her belly with her hand she took three short breaths and pushed her body upward just enough so she could reach the alarm and pulled it. She dropped to the floor unconscious just as all hell broke loose.
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The men of A-shift slept oblivious to ongoing struggle just outside their dorm. The lights of the station turned on with a loud blare woke them abruptly they popped on their turnouts and looked at each other in confusion at the sound. The klaxons played in the background, over the intercom, dispatching several engines and squads to them. "What the hell?!" Cap yelled. They turned and ran out to the bay splitting up to see what triggered the alarm. Chet booked it toward Lou's dorm because he hadn't seen her come out yet and nearly tripped over her prone form. He dropped to his knees beside her.
"GUYS IT'S LOU!" He shouted. The loud blaring was still happening so he quickly put the alarm box back and the noise blissfully stopped. He could hear the sirens of the approaching stations as he was joined by the rest of his crew. Captain Stanley slid in hard next to the down woman.
"There's no fire, she must of pulled it, though. Mike cancel the engines and squads but continue one ambulance, code I." The engineer nodded and went to the mic to complete his orders, while Hank pulled her head into his lap. "Lou, wake up, what's going on?" She was covered in sweat and felt hot to the touch, she grimaced in pain when they moved her. Johnny and Roy had grabbed the gear from the squad and were getting vitals while talking to Rampart.
"Rampart, Squad 51." Roy opened the line up to hospital.
"Go ahead 51, read you loud and clear." Came Brackett's voice over the line.
"Rampart we have a Code I at our location, twenty-four-year-old female, victim of unknown illness, unconscious, diaphoretic, and hot to touch. Vitals are..." His partner handed him the slip of paper. "Heart rate 124 thready, respirations 22 shallow, BP 96/42 and temp of 103.2 orally." What's going on with her?
"51 start IV with LR wide open and begin cooling measures. Continue additional assessments to find source if able."
"10-4 Rampart, IV LR wide open, begin cooling measures." The blonde paramedic set about soaking towels and wrapping her exposed legs and around her neck. Cap kept her head in his lap as he dabbed at her face trying to lower the temperature of the woman and rouse her awake.
"C'mon Lou, wake up." Fatherly worry present in his tone. "Where the hell is that ambulance!" He barked at his men.
"Still five out cap," Mike flinched at the look the man gave at that news. "Sorry Cap."
"Not your fault." He was handed a new cold washcloth and continued dabbing. "I just wished I knew what was going on."
"Us too Cap." Marco agreed while speaking up for the others. Lou grunted, coming to, and began to try and roll over pulling on her IV. The paramedics gently pushed her back while Chet held the hand of the arm that had the IV to keep it still.
"Hey, bout time you joined us." Hank chucked at the indignant look she gave him but it quickly turned to pain and she sobbed bending her legs trying to get more comfortable. When Johnny tried to straighten them back out to put fresh towels on she kicked out with her left foot and caught him in the chin.
He cursed as it caused him to bite down and the taste of blood filled his mouth. "What the hell, Lou?" She continued to try and curl into herself.
"Hurts too much to straighten, sorry didn't mean to." She gasped out. "Appy."
"No, I'm not happy!" He spit out the blood in some gauze Roy had handed him.
"Not happy, twit." Hank couldn't help it but grin as she used the nickname he used from time to time. "Appy, hot appy!" Realization dawned on the faces of the men around her. Roy jumped back on the phone to Rampart.
"Rampart this is 51, update on Code I. She is now conscious, and we think we pinpointed the source of illness. Suspect acute appendicitis. Patient is in severe pain as well."
"10-4, 51 administerfour milligrams of MS IV, we'll have a suite waiting for her." Roy read back the orders and nodded. Johnny administered the drugs and the woman visibly relaxed.
"I really am sorry."
The dark-haired paramedic shrugged. "I don't know why we're worried about you defending yourself you got a hell of kick." His chin now sported a bruise to match his eye. The other men laughed and looked up as they heard the ambulance sirens approaching. "Your chariot is here."
Marco and Mike had grabbed the gurney from the ambulance before the attendants could even get out and had rolled it in. As one the several hands of the crew lifted her onto it. Chet, though, never let go of her hand and followed her to the waiting ambulance, he even made motions to jump into the back but was stopped by the paramedics. "Drive in the squad." Roy tossed the keys to him and he reluctantly let go of the woman's hand. She had fallen back unconscious and the older paramedic could see his face of worry. "She'll be fine, Chet, they take them out all the time." He pointed, "The squad, go."
The mustached man ran to the vehicle started the engine and flipped on the lights and sirens to follow the ambulance. The remaining three crew members being left behind in his rear view.
Cap sighed at the mess they had made of water, towels and plastic wrappers. "I'll take us out of service, let's clean this up and then take a trip to Rampart." The other men scrambled about grabbing trash and drying the floor.
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Dr. Brackett was at the ready, once the in-house fire alarm was pulled dispatch called them on their emergency phone to be prepared for multiple patients from a fire station fire. Those stations were full of chemicals, compressed oxygen, and things that shouldn't be near flames. It was almost ironic thinking what the occupants did for a living. If the engine or squad got caught up in the fire the amount of gas those vehicles carried could level the station so he while he hoped no one would be hurt, he knew it was more of probability.
He knitted his eyebrows in worry before picking up, "Go ahead squad 51, read you loud and clear."
"Rampart we have a Code I at our location..." He knew who the victim instantly at the description but was expecting a injury, not this. Illness? Were they exposed to something on a run, God Lou what's going on with you? He gave orders and hoped she would wake to give them some clues.
"Dix, set up a room, be prepared for contact precautions one of our paramedics of 51 is down with unknown illness." She couldn't help but flash back to the monkey virus that had nearly cost Johnny and Brackett their lives four years earlier. Her face showed worry.
Kel couldn't help but admit the female paramedic had quickly taken a place in his heart and life akin to that of the other men of 51. Where it took years for him to consider them friend, she had managed it in just a short nine months. He almost wondered if he or Dix would be too close to this if it was as bad as it sounded.
The squawk box toned back to life. "Rampart this is 51, update on Code I..." As he listened to the suspicions of his paramedic crew, he could feel some relief that some of the unknown was gone but then he knew if she was having the symptoms she was, she was close to having a burst appendix. He signed off with orders for pain relief and joined his nurse in the exam room. "Probable hot appy, call up and OR to minimize wait."
"On it Kel." She bustled out and started making phone calls.
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The two men in the Caprice followed the ambulance and squad that left the station just a few minutes earlier. They didn't know who the patient was, but they knew that their confirmed target was in one of the vehicles. They parked a few spaces away from the ambulance and saw the gurney rolled out, using their camera's short telephoto lens they could see that their mark was the patient. "Better call and inform of this." The driver's partner grunted his agreement.
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Chet practically ran in behind the gurney as the female paramedic was rolled in. Johnny and Roy were eyeballing her intensely as she had worsened a bit in the ambulance with her heart rate increasing still and her BP dropping, there wasn't much they could do, the ultimate cure was getting her appendix out and a boatload of antibiotics on board.
"Exam 3." Dix instructed as they steered. About halfway to the room the woman on the bed opened her eyes, let out an odd yell, and her body began to jerk as she seized violently. Her movements ripped out the IV and she hit her head on the side rail. They ran the rest of the way into the room and nearly collided with Dr. Brackett as they entered.
He took one look at the scene before him and started barking orders. "IV diazepam 10 mg stat! CMP, CBC, ABG, type and cross for surgery. Apply O2 15 liters. "
"We lost access in the hall," His nurse informed him.
"Give it IM then!" She nodded and complied holding on to the patient's thigh as she darted the needle in and injected the medication.
"Diazepam in."
The doctor stood and watched, while the IM medication would take longer it should take no longer than three minutes for it to start taking effect. The three minutes passed with no change. He clenched his jaw as they continued to offer support to the seizing woman. Minute five passed and while normally the man would internally cuss the seizure showed no signs of abating, so he became more verbal.
"God dammit! Give me an IV cath, imma access the OJ. Roy get a new set of vitals. Johnny and Chet help me here." The woman's arms and legs were moving spasmodically, her jaw was clenched and she was making grunting noises as spittle flew from her mouth. The men held her as best they could so that the side of her neck was clear of obstructions. The stress of the seizure was taking it's toll on her body and despite the oxygen she was turning cyanotic.
"Heart rate 167, BP 178/120, respirations erratic." The blonde firefighter reported.
The doctor nodded as he stabbed the IV into her neck, the flash of dark venous blood telling him that he had hit home. He retracted the needle and grabbed the extension set the dark-haired paramedic had prepared for him and screwed it in. So as to not lose this access, too, he held fast as Roy applied large swaths of tape.
"5 more milligrams Dix."
Dixie added her hands to the mix with a syringe injecting medication into the port of the IV and then flushing it thoroughly.
"5 milligrams diazepam in."
The jerking motion of the woman slowed, her breathing becoming more normal and soon she was back to a relaxed state. The medical professionals began to buzz around her re-taking vitals, hooking her up to fluids, and reassessing.
"The hell happened?!" The doctor asked as he examined her.
"Dunno doc she was a little worse but nothing indicated this was gonna happen." Johnny said he hung fluids and pulled a sheet up over her. His partner was taking a new set of vitals while the head nurse got the set of labs ordered.
"Temps 105.4 she's spiked." the blonde man report grimly.
The doctor sighed in frustration, "Switch fluids to chilled NS, start loading dose phenytoin fifteen migs per kilo, second IV with chilled LR and give penicillin 20 million units. Chest X-ray and urine." He had pushed on her belly which elicited a groan confirming his suspicions. "She's got rigidity of the abdominal muscles." He looked into her mouth to see if there was any damage and noticed the bruises on her forehead. "Head and neck to make sure no damage was done by the gurney rail and start seizure precautions."
All the personnel who understood what he was saying set about following orders, the curly haired fireman though stood back at a loss, he felt useless. The head nurse saw his plight and she had the blood needed for the lab so she decided to get two birds with one stone. "C'mon help me walk toward the lab, I'll drop you off at the lounge, there is, no doubt, gonna be the rest of your crew in there." She looped her arm around his slack one and gently pulled him out, his eyes glued on the prone woman in the bed. He knew that the blonde woman was saying placating things as they walked toward the lounge but all he could see and hear was Lou having a seizure, she gently pushed him through the door then nearly ran off to the lab as the ABG needed to be processed quickly to be accurate.
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The three men looked up as a fourth was added to the mix. It had only been about an hour since they were awakened by the internal alarm and finding their paramedic down but it had felt like they had been at a four alarm in a chemical factory all night.
"She had a seizure." Were the first word their Irish counterpart said.
Cap felt his soul drop at the words, "She what!?" he asked in shock. "She was awake and talked to us..."
The man who delivered the news suddenly went pale and he swallowed back a gag. Mike recognized it first, stood grabbed a chair, slid it behind the man while kicking a small trashcan in front of him. The engineer forced the man to sit as he lost his battle and began to gag and vomit the meager contents in his stomach.
Hank knew it had to be bad if his man had such a physical reaction to what he saw. He suddenly had a horrid thought, "Is she... is she alive?" He barely whispered the question. He had seen the paramedics lose patients on seizure cases, he knew that if not quickly stopped the person would stop breathing and it was hard to get them to stabilize if that happened. His question caused his other two men to pale as well.
"Yeah," Chet ground out once done, spitting in the can he nodded his thanks to the engineer. "It was bad though, she lost IV access, Brackett was cursing, and she turned blue before they could get it to stop." He felt tears in his eyes as he relayed the information. "Hit her head when it started, it lasted nine minutes..."
At his last trailed off sentence Hank felt like he was going to be the next one to be sick, the trash can with a new bag in it was slid in front of him courtesy of his engineer. He bowed his head and allowed the tears that had threatened to slip out before he took a quick swipe at his eyes. Strong front for the guys, Hank, don't let them see you. He cleared his throat and sighed before saying, "I'll need to call Emily, she'll want to be here. She'll call JoAnne and Rebecca."
"Already handled." His engineer told him, "Did it while I called off the other stations." He nodded his thanks to the man.
"I guess now all we can do is wait."
The three men sat around still and quiet except for the occasional murmuring of Marco as he prayed, holding a St. Michael necklace. The chain was much more delicate than the one of the Mexican fireman or the ones each of them either wore or kept close. The man's mothers had given them each one when they became a crew and Hank had taken his medal and affixed it inside his helmet. She had taken each of the medals to several churches and had hundreds of faithful say the St. Michael prayer over them. She also had each priest of the churches bless and anoint the medals with oil.
"Is that hers?" He asked the man who held on to the small object as some sort of lifeline. He finished the prayer he was on and nodded.
"Yeah," he responded, "She wears it for each shift, my mom had extra prayers and blessings added to it since Lou saved our lives." He laughed, "She looked shocked when my mom gave it to her, said it was the first necklace she had ever been given with no strings attached. You know my mama, she then made a big deal about it and hugged her tightly, practically squeezed her till her ribs broke. Poor Lou then was passed all over the hospital room, my family giving her thanks and additional prayers to the medal. She must've took it off when she went to bed I saw it on the floor of her dorm when we were cleaning up. I took it here to, I don't know, focus St. Michael to her." The older man nodded.
Hank was a lapsed catholic but he thought he remembered the St. Michael prayer for first responders. He reached over and put his hands on the medal and recited, "Lord, I ask you through St. Michael the Archangel, to watch over all of the men and women who so generously devote themselves to helping others. Grant them courage when afraid, wisdom when they must make quick decisions, strength when weary, and compassion in all their work. When the alarm sounds and they are called to aid both friend and stranger, let them faithfully serve you in their neighbors. Amen." The hands of the other men had joined Marco's and his and they added their prayers as well. This was the scene that the paramedic duo walked in on. The men stood in the doorway covered in sweat, blood, and vomit, their faces wearing the lines of the battle they just waged.
"Johnny?"
"Roy?"