Chapter Three
"Can you get the arm?" Kel asked, as Mike and Marco packaged the patient they just spent forty five minutes performing crude surgery on, Chet still breathing for him. Kel awkwardly buttoned up the turnout coat he had taken off during the surgery. His scrubbed-in helped had theirs back on within seconds. In fascination, he watched how smoothly the patient was lifted through a shattered window, effortlessly passed off to firefighters on the roof. He wasn't that smooth climbing a ladder he thought self consciously.
"Not really Doc," Roy answered, flexing his free hand, "We're still not done," he had been listening to the radio during the intense surgery. While most patients were out of the train, there was still a lot of life on scene to prioritize over a limb.
"Right," Kel said, focusing his attention back to the engine crew who were stabilizing the stokes basket as it was lifted out of the car.
After taking the sterile gloves off, he was immediately reminded by Stoker, over his shoulder, to put his borrowed gloves back on, "No cuts on you, okay?" The engineer emphasized, unknowingly echoing Stoney.
"Take it easy guys while I'm gone, okay?" Kel ordered, remembering the cuts and bruises most of 51's crew sported as he slowly started to climb the ladder. "And I expect to see you all before you go back in service," he directed. Hank nodded, and Kel was confident it was actually going to happen. The patient was already on the ground, waiting for the Doctor to catch up. He received nods from all six, before starting to climb for the roof.
The triage areas had drastically changed Kel saw from the top of the train. Almost all the yellow and green areas were empty, as they could transport a larger number of patients at once. That left red patients who needed more active care during transport. One of the inside crews had been released to work in Red Triage, as there were only a few patients still trapped.
Captain Stone met the Doctor at the foot of the ladder, "Impressive work Doc," he praised. Kel nodded as he started to unclip the coat after pulling the gloves off. "Your helicopter and Dix are waiting for you to get back to Rampart, you're taking another red with ya," he advised as he directed the Doctor to the ambulance that was going to take them to the helicopter. "Hey, Doc," Stone added, "You look great in my turnout gear," he said with a smile.
Kel smirked, thinking back to Hank saying the same thing. "Thanks," said, while simultaneously thinking it must be a Captain's code.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Brackett delivered his field amputation to the OR, passing off his work to the nerve and vascular surgeons. Before going back down to the emergency room, he changed out of his own clothes that were filthy. Sporting now the green scrubs Mike favored, he made his way back to Dixie's desk, noticing she wasn't there. "Probably treating the forty green we got," he murmured pridefully. The last bus, to Rampart this time, also delivered his resident, who was skillfully organizing people and patients. His ER had handled things well, not that there was any doubt. With a glance, he noticed the fire department radio was still on channel 7. He listened intently, turning up the volume, unsure if the scene was still even active. He had been up in the OR for a while between finishing up his portion of patient care, and showering in the nicer OR locker rooms. He noticed on the board above the biophones, that several of his squad's, Squad 51, Squad 10, and Squad 36, status had changed. Squad 10 and 36 were 'Available,' whereas 51 was 'Out of service.' With a frown, he looked at the room assignment board, wanting a free room to evaluate the men of 51 whom he assumed were on their way in.
"Command to LA," the channel called, "I'm terminating Command, you can release channel 7."
"Copy Command, all units on scene are clear, command terminated at 2346." Then, there was silence as the channel became empty again.
Kel sighed in relief, quickly calculating the time the scene was active. Three hours and fifteen minutes, sixteen if he was being precise. He didn't know the total number of patients yet, but he knew that his ER saw eleven red, thirty-three green, and seventeen yellow, a total of sixty-one. All stable patients were being held in a conference room as a temporary waiting room, so that train investigators and police could talk to victims without any direction from ED staff. At this point, the number of people, specifically green patients, were starting to trickle down, which Kel was okay with. Going back to his original task, he assigned an empty room to all of 51, hopeful the crew would be okay sharing a singular treatment room. He pulled six new patient folders and started filling them out, not letting anyone slip under his radar. He remembered Hank cradling his wrist when not actively using it, and Chet propping his leg up. He made it a point to jot down all the various injuries they all sported, seemingly superficial or minor all the same. Picking up the phone, he called x-ray, ordering two skull series for Marco and Roy, a wrist for Hank, and a leg for Chet. Remembering the scratch on Mike's coat, Chet's leg, and Johnny's chest, he made a mental note to grab three suture kits. Tucking the patient folders under his arm, he started his search for Dixie, he knew they would be the most comfortable with her.
"I commandeered exam 3 for them," Kel unapologetically said as he and Dix walked through the ER hallway after he explained.
"Do you remember what injuries they had?" Dix asked, already starting her to-do list, unaware Kel had already one.
Kel smiled, "Ha," he proclaimed, grinning wider. "I beat you to it," he excitedly recited his orders, holding the prefilled folders up, while Dix raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"You are capable of memory, Doctor Brackett," she mockingly insulted with a smirk.
Playing his part, Kel splayed his hand on his chest, unknowingly using Johnny's known mannerism, "I didn't go to school for eight years for nothing," he grinned.
"Could've fooled me," Dix responded with a deadpan, finally laughing at Kel's facial expression.
"I'm hurt Nurse McCall," he woundedly said, before slipping into the storage room, searching the shelves for suture kits. After watching him struggle for a few minutes in amusement, Dix pointed them out in seconds.
Suture kits waiting on the counter, and station 51's status unknown, Kel retreated to his office. The stack of paperwork he meant to complete hours ago was still patiently waiting for him. With a smirk, he remembered volunteering for this night shift, hoping for quieter hours to complete the paperwork in his office in peace. "Should've known better," he grumbled. He sat down in his chair, pulling the first stapled papers off the pile. Skimming the equipment request form, he signed it and put it to the side, starting a new, much smaller pile.
Seven forms in, "Doctor Brackett to Exam 3, Doctor Brackett to Exam 3 please," the hospital PA system paged.
Jumping up, Kel gleefully abandoned the two piles, then frowned, he wasn't happy with the reason. Pulling his lab coat over the scrubs, he walked out with a purpose.
Six firefighters and one nurse were crammed into exam 3. None of the men in blue, he noted, were sitting on the exam table. Dix stood against the table, her arms crossed. 51's crew all leaned against the cabinets tiredly, except Chet, who sat on the stool. "I'm supposed to sit there," Brackett chastised lighty, a smile on his face showing it was a tease.
"I got here first," Chet rebuked.
Kel shrugged, the lineman wasn't wrong. With a nod in Dixie's direction, Kel appreciated that they all had their shirts unbuttoned, ready to be examined. "All right, who's first," he rubbed his hands together while he waited. Unsurprisingly, no one volunteered. "Okay," Kel said, going for the stack of folders he left on the counter, next to the suture kits. Grabbing the top one, he flipped it open, "Mike Stoker, step right up," he directed, pointing at the exam table. Mike, quick and quiet as a mouse, slid onto the table, taking off his blue button up and exposing the cut Kel expected to be there. "What got you?" Kel asked as he probed the scratch, still surprisingly deep despite the turnout coat the man had on for protection.
Mike smirked suddenly, "A bracket, you might say." Johnny groaned at the awful joke, while Hank snorted. Kel looked up, still waiting for a real answer. Sobering, "The bracket to a seat, just a couple down from the guy," Mike explained.
Kel nodded, able to picture the metal mechanisms that had previously bolted the train seats to the floor. Kel's mannerisms changed to full business mode, Dix caught on, making the same mental switch. "Looks pretty deep there, did it bleed?"
Dix cut in, "Yes, I cut off bandages they put on."
Kel nodded again, this time absentmindedly. It now made sense why it took Squad 51 so long to respond, Roy's hand was busy with a brachial artery, while Johnny was busy bandaging his crewmates. "When was your last tetanus shot Mike?" he asked as he opened one of the suture kits.