A CONFINED PLACE
"Cap, where could they be?" Roy asked.
"We have everyone we can spare here looking for them."
~*~*~
He didn’t know how long he had been down, but it seemed like hours. His head hurt, and as each part of his body awoke it screamed in pain. Where am I? He opened his eyes to total darkness. I’m blind! Taking a deep breath was out; Chet was putting pressure on his chest.
They had been ordered into the basement of the building to look for hot spots. Chet had been the front man, and complained of an unusual smell when he entered a small room ahead of Johnny. The paramedic could smell it too, then everything went black.
"Don’t you die on me, Kelly!" He reached up and felt Chet’s neck for a pulse; at least he still had one. He reached over the top of Chet’s body, and discovered that a wooden beam had fallen on top of them. He reached for his handy talkie, and couldn’t find it. His snaps and buckles were snagging on his partner’s, so scooting out from under him was impossible. He punched the ground in frustration with a balled up fist.
~*~*~
"They’ve brought in a rescue dog," Captain Stanley told Roy. "That whole section of the building fell into an old miner’s shaft."
"Paramedic!" Roy turned and saw someone waving franticly at him. One of the men looking for Johnny and Chet had fallen halfway through the floor of the building.
"What did you do now, Murphy?" Roy asked, trying to lighten the mood as he approached. He knelt down next to the firemen, picked up his wrist, and began taking the man’s pulse.
"I landed wrong inside this hole. I can feel blood dripping into my boot," Murphy explained.
Captain Smythe inspected the edges of the hole. "Do you feel anything around your legs, Murph?"
"I feel something poking my knee, but other than that I don’t feel anything."
"The area here seems firm enough," Smyth turned and yelled, "JOEY, PAUL, AND FRANK, MURPHY’S IN TROUBLE AGAIN!" The three men walked over. Joey, a tall, dark skinned Italian with bright blue eyes, spoke first.
"Hey Murph, what’s coming up that you need off for?" He asked.
"Ha, Ha. Like I would do this to myself on purpose," Murphy responded back.
“We never know, Murph.”
"Come on guys, it hurts around my stomach." Roy found a sharp piece of lathe that had managed to imbed itself through the front of his coat.
"Why isn’t your coat snapped?" Roy asked.
"What?"
"Murph." Captain Smyth scowled.
"Cap, my leg’s broken, you don’t need to worry about my coat." He watched as Roy lifted his hand away from the piece of lathe. There was a small amount of blood. He stared at Roy’s hand, then back to his Captain. "Okay, so, the fire was out and I was hot."
"That is not an excuse. Why do I always feel like your mother? You’re lucky you’re a good fireman, Murphy.” He looked at Roy, “How bad is the cut, DeSoto?" Roy put his hand on the piece of wood and followed it.
"I don’t feel it penetrating his body."
"Can we break the lathe?"
"I wouldn’t break it," Roy said. He thought a moment. "We could use the small hand saw. I think it would fit in between him and the lathe.” Captain Smythe nodded to the short, stocky firemen named Frank, and he went to get the tool.
"Done," Frank announced, when he felt the piece snap loose.
"So are you gonna get me out of this hole or what?" Murphy demanded.
"I think ‘or what’ would be good," his Captain smiled at him.
"You know, you really instill confidence in your men, Cap!" he responded sarcastically. The three firemen, the Captain, and Roy all gathered around him. On the count of three, they lifted Murphy out of the hole.
"OWE! Owe, owe, owe," he yelled as they lay him down on the ground. Captain Smythe shook his head. Roy checked the cut first. It was a small scratch, not even worth stitches. Then he checked Murphy’s leg for a break. Roy, with the help of the other firemen, removed his trousers so that he could get a good look at the area.
"Well, Murph, I hate to break it to you," Roy said seriously.
"What?" Murphy sat up.
"Your leg isn’t broken."
"What?" He began feeling down his leg. "I felt it snap. I know I did."
"You have a scrape here on the side of your leg. It’s probably from that same piece of lathe that was stuck in your belly," Roy said. He set to cleaning and bandaging the two wounds.
"I won’t even need stitches?" Murphy said.
"Doesn’t look like it to me," Roy said. He smiled, and finished bandaging the wounds. "You can get up now Murphy, you’re all fixed."
"A man gets hurt, and he gets no sympathy from his fellow firefighters."
"I’d sympathize, Murph, if you were hurt!" Joey responded, helping him to stand.
~*~*~
Johnny felt Chet stir. He placed his hand firmly on the other man’s shoulder. Chet’s movement stopped. If he was speaking he couldn’t hear him over the ringing. The Irishman tried to wiggle out from under the beam but ran into the same problem Johnny had.
~*~*~
"Cap, we found a hose that goes nowhere!" Marco told him.
"Where are you?" Captain Stanley asked.
"We’re at the southeast corner of the building. The hose leads into this giant hole with nothing but debris on top of it," he informed him. "The rescue dog is going crazy."
"We’re on our way!" Captain Stanley replied. Roy turned and grabbed the bio-phone and drug box.
~*~*~
Chet took a hold of Johnny’s hand and squeezed it. Help was on the way, via rescue dog. Kelly began wiggling again, trying to free himself from under the beam. His movement made Johnny’s pain worse. He put both hands on Chet’s shoulder, to stop him. I wish I could see what’s going on. For that matter, I wish I could hear what’s going on. This wasn’t good. He couldn’t take the shallow breaths that he had been taking.
~*~*~
When the two men arrived at the southeast corner of the building, the firemen had already begun to pull the debris off of the hole. The dog was barking and whining. The handler walked up to Captain Stanley.
"Captain Stanley? I’m Randy Griffin, and this is Kevin." He patted his large black lab on the head. "I told the fellas, if they can get a hole big enough for him to get into, I’ll send him in." The dog panted and watched the digging. Occasionally, he’d look at his partner, lick his lips and then turn back. Suddenly, the animal began pulling. Randy walked him over to where the men were working, and let him off of his leash. When his search for a large enough hole was fruitless, Randy called him back, so the men could resume digging. The dog sat down next to his partner and began to whine. One of the men yelled, "I think this is big enough." Randy took his partner over to the hole and let him go. Kevin squeezed into the hole and disappeared into the darkness.
~*~*~
Tears of fear, anger, and frustration made trails down Johnny’s hairline. There was a large wet tongue sliding across his face. He couldn’t breathe but man that felt good. He put his hands up to pet the dog, and that was the last thing he remembered.
~*~*~
Kevin began barking. He wouldn’t leave the two men. He lay down beside Johnny facing Chet and licked Chet’s face. Chet put his arm around the dog’s neck. When the men had made the hole large enough, Roy and Marco grabbed their flashlights and went in.
"Cap, we need a port-a-power down here on the double," Roy yelled.
"You got it, Roy!"
Randy called Kevin out so the men could work. Roy checked Johnny’s pulse, it was there, but he wasn’t breathing. Roy pulled Johnny’s head back and began mouth to mouth. He heard Marco began to cough. There was something toxic leaking into this small area.
"Cap! We’ve got to get them out of here!" Roy yelled between breaths. "There’s some kind of leak down here! Marco, are you okay?" Marco nodded, and leaned up to get the port-a-power. Murphy joined them. He pulled on his gloves.
"DeSoto, let’s get your partner out of here," he said. Marco had placed the port-a-power underneath the beam lying across Chet’s back and began lifting the beam.. Murphy pulled Chet from under the beam. Murphy passed Chet out to Robbie and Stan from station 110. He turned, helped lift Johnny up off of the ground, and they carried him out.
"Murph, could you go get my equipment by Engine 12?" He nodded . Murphy brought the boxes over and set them down. "Thanks Murph," Roy said.
"Welcome, Roy." He watched as Roy inserted an airway.
~*~*~
Roy looked over and saw Chet. "Are you doing okay?" Chet nodded, and then looked at Johnny. "He’s gonna be fine. Don’t you worry about him.” Chet nodded again. The ambulance arrived and as they wheeled Johnny into the ambulance, Murphy came over to stand next to Roy.
"Hey, I hope he’s gonna be okay."
"He will be, Murphy. He’s resilient like you." He smiled as he stepped in behind his partner. Murphy handed Roy his equipment. Captain Stanley stepped up to the back of the ambulance.
"Marco will drive the squad over to Rampart for you."
"Thanks Cap." They wheeled Chet in next to Johnny. Captain Stanley closed the door and hit it twice to let the driver know the door was closed. On the way to the hospital, Chet looked over at Johnny. Roy patted Chet’s shoulder. "He’ll be okay, honest," he told him.
~*~*~
Chet was in the locker room getting dressed when Johnny came in.
"Good morning Chester B.," Johnny said.
"Johnny," Chet nodded acknowledgment.
"How are you feeling?" Johnny asked as he opened his locker door, putting his keys and sunglasses up on the top shelf.
"I’m feeling really good. How about yourself?"
"Pretty good," Johnny stated, stepping out of his shoes and pulling his jeans down. "Well rested and ready for work." He stepped into his uniform pants, and pulled off his shirt. , He noticed Chet watching him. "What?" Johnny asked. He stopped buttoning his shirt and looked at the man who always antagonized him.
"Nothing." Chet responded. "Not a thing." He paused a moment. "I’m glad you’re okay." Chet looked at the floor and stood up. "I’m always on your case but that doesn’t mean that I want you hurt." He thought a moment then shrugged his shoulders, and started walking to the door.
"Thanks Chet. I’m glad you’re okay too," Johnny told him. Chet stopped in the doorway.
"That doesn’t mean that I’m gonna let up on you though." He left the room. Johnny smiled.
"I wouldn’t want it any other way, Chester B.," he said.
THE END
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Guest Dispatchers Stories by Katy Sundberg
