Firewalker and the Rings of Fire

by Linda2

How he had gotten there he did not know. Standing in the center of the ring, he stared at the flames surrounding him. Raising his arm, he tried to shield his face from the heat of the flames, an impossible task as heat engulfed him. Suddenly, a woman’s scream filled the air, startling him. Peering through the flames, he could not see her. Whichever way he turned, the flames grew higher. Finally, getting as close to the flames as he could, he was able to see her. Her face contorted with fear, she screamed again, pleading with him to help her. Seeking a way out of the flaming ring, he looked in every direction. But, the flames were too high. There was no way to get to her. She was standing in a fiery ring of her own. Reaching out, she called to him again, fear in her eyes. Once more the flames leapt up, hiding her from sight. A scream of terror ripped through him. Then all was deathly silent.

John woke to find himself standing in the middle of his bedroom, covered with sweat, heart pounding. For a moment, he did not know where he was or how he had gotten there. Then he breathed a sigh of relief as his realized he had been dreaming… again. Tenseness drained from him, leaving him weak. Legs shaking, he walked over to sit on the side of his bed. Taking several deep breaths, he covered his eyes with his hands. Amazingly, the dream always took him by surprise. No matter how many times he dreamed it, he never realized it was a dream until he awoke. Off and on for several weeks now it had been haunting him. The same dream every time. What upset him the most was his inability to get to the woman. Being able to see her, but not able to save her, he felt as if he failed her, every time.

Completely drained, John lay down on the bed. Covering his eyes with his arm, he tried to calm down. “It was only a dream, it wasn’t real.” Saying the words out loud over and over, he tried to convince himself they were true. He lay dozing fitfully until he was awakened by the alarm. With a moan, he swung his arm over to the clock to hit the snooze button. When the alarm went off again, he shook off the feeling of despair the dream always left him with and sat up, turning the alarm off.

Arriving at the station, he took a deep breath before entering the building. He plastered a cheerful expression on his face, before opening the door and walking into the locker room. “Good morning, good morning,” he greeted the others, doing his best John Gage imitation, as he crossed to his locker.

“What’s the matter with you?” Chet asked, as he continued to button his shirt. Narrowing his eyes he said, “You had that dream again…didn’t you?”

“Now, Chet, what makes you think that?” John’s attempt at a light tone missed by a mile.

“Because, I know you, John,” Chet said, “you’re not acting right.”

“What do you mean, I’m ‘not acting right’?” John asked, irritated that Chet could read him so well.

“I don’t know.” Chet said, shrugging. “It’s just…it’s like you’re doing a bad imitation of yourself or something.”

“Now how,” John asked, opening his locker with a snap, “does one do a bad imitation of themselves?”

“From your example,” Chet quipped as he headed for the door, “very poorly.” Chuckling at his own joke, the stocky firefighter pushed open the door and walked into the bay.

Roy and Marco chuckled at Chet’s parting shot. John frowned.

“You did have that dream again, didn’t you?” Roy asked, buttoning the last button on his uniform shirt and tucking the tail into his pants as he spoke.

“Yeah, I wish I could figure it out.” Pulling his shirttail out of his jeans, John began to change clothes.

“Was it the same as before?” Roy sat on the bench to tie his shoes.

“Yep, every detail,” John said as he put on his uniform shirt. “Right up to, and including, not being able to save her.” John shook his head as Roy looked at him in concern. “This time, when I woke up, I was standing in the middle of my bedroom floor.” Both men finished changing and went out into the bay for roll call.

At first the dreams had only come when he was at home. Then one night, at the station, when they had not had any middle-of-the-night runs, it had come. His scream of despair not only woke himself, but everyone else as well. At first they had been annoyed, but when they had seen how upset John was, their annoyance had changed to concern. With each subsequent episode, their concern had increased. Now, John was almost afraid to sleep on shift, for fear he would have the dream and have to endure his crewmates concern. John had experienced nightmares before, but nothing like this.

Everyone was in the bay ready for roll call when Captain Stanley came out of his office followed by a woman. While the other men were mildly surprised to see the woman following Cap, John was shocked. Standing with his mouth open, staring at her he almost missed Cap’s announcement.

“Gentlemen,” Cap said, “this is Leah, she’s going to be with us for the next few shifts.”

Leah was the woman in his dreams. What was she doing here? Was the dream going to come true? He wished his grandfather were alive. He would be able to tell him. Practically every thing he knew about his culture, his grandfather had taught him. Roy’s elbow hit him ending his distraction.

“So, John, Roy, she’ll be riding with you,” Cap was saying as John’s attention returned to him. “Leah, let me introduce you to the crew.” Cap indicated Mike who was at the head of the line-up. “This is Mike, he’s our engineer...”

“Engineer?” Leah questioned in surprise.

“Yeah, he drives the engine, works the gages, all that. He’s second in command.” When Leah nodded understanding, he went on. “And this is Marco and Chet, they’re firefighters. And these are the guys you’ll be riding with, our firefighter/paramedics, Roy and John.” Each man in turn greeted Leah. John shook off his surprise and greeted her with his best Gage smile.

After the announcements were made and assignments given, no one left the bay. Cap watched as the men gathered around Leah, all except John, who stood off to the side. Cap rolled his eyes and shook his head as he walked away from the group. It was pointless, he knew, to attempt to distract them from the woman until they had all become better acquainted with her. Also, he knew he could trust Roy and Mike to keep them from getting out of hand.

A slender woman of above average height, Leah captivated the men with her pretty smile and patient answering of their questions.

“So, you’re writing a book about firefighter paramedics?” John heard Chet ask. That piece of information must have been part of what he had missed before Roy had elbowed him.

“That’s right,” Leah said smiling, seeming to be not the least concerned that she was surrounded by four firefighters.

Remembering how her dream counterpart’s face had been contorted with fear in the nightmare the night before, John watched, fascinated, as she smiled at the men around her. His mouth was dry and the palms of his hands had begun to sweat. He rubbed his hands together as he listened distractedly to their conversation.

“Why not just firefighters?” Chet pursued. “Us plain ol’ firefighters are much more interesting than those paramedics.”

“Because I wasn’t asked to write about plain ol’ firefighters,” Leah replied, laughing.

“And you were asked to write about paramedics?” Chet asked, sounding incredulous. “Who would ask anyone to write a book about paramedics?”

“My editor, that’s who.”

“How come?” Mike asked.

“Because, they’re doing a coffee table book,” Leah explained, “you know, one of those books you set on the coffee table; it looks pretty but no one reads it.”

“Do you specialize in coffee table books?” Marco asked, curious.

“No, I’ve only written one. On emergency nursing.” Leah said. “That one was a breeze.”

“This one isn’t?” Mike asked.

“No, at least not so far,” Leah said, frowning slightly. “You see, I am an ER nurse, so that helped a lot. My publisher thought since I worked with paramedics and was a nurse, that I could do this one just as easily.”

“So what’s so hard about it?” Chet asked, shrugging.

“Well, it’s like we speak the same language, but a different dialect.” Seeing their puzzled expressions, Leah continued. “I have been interviewing paramedics and when they tell me about things that go on in the field, I get lost. So I talked with Dr. Brackett and he suggested I audit the paramedic training program and do some field work with paramedics.”

“What exactly is the book going to be about?” Roy asked. “I thought it was going to be a coffee table book, not a paramedic training handbook.”

“Actually, the first part of the book is going to be about how the paramedic program got started, and the second part is about the paramedic program today.”

“Well, then you’ve come to the right place,” Mike said, grinning.

“Oh, how’s that?” Leah asked.

“Roy and John here, are two of the ‘original’ paramedics,” Mike explained.

“Really?” Leah looked at Roy and John almost in awe. “That’s great.” A sudden thought struck her and she said, “that must be why Dr. Bracket said this would be the perfect place for me.”

“Where’s your camera?” Chet asked.

“What camera?” Leah responded, puzzled.

“I thought coffee table books always had lots of pictures in them,” Chet explained.

“Oh, those will come later. Right now I’m just doing research,” Leah said.

“You have to excuse Chet, he only reads books with pictures in them….”

As the others continued ribbing Chet, Roy, having noticed that John had not joined the group, walked over to where he stood.

“Roy, it’s her, I’m sure of if,” John said as he continued to stare at Leah distractedly.

“It’s who?” Roy asked, confused.

John pulled his hand down over his face before answering Roy. “She’s the woman in my dream, my nightmare.”

“Are you sure?” Roy looked startled.

“Yes…no…I mean,” John threw up his hands, shrugging his shoulders, “she looks just like her. What is she doing here?”

“You’re not thinking your dream is going to come true?” Roy asked, alarmed more by the thought of his partner’s unrelenting ability to obsess than anything else. Though he doubted the dream would come true, he knew it was exactly what John would believe. He also knew if the other man were to become obsessed with the idea, he would worry it, and Roy, to death.

“I don’t know. I certainly hope not.”

Before long, Mike was able to distract Marco and Chet from Leah by using the simple expedient of telling them to get to work. After making sure they did, he began working on his own assignment.

“Well, why don’t we take a tour of the squad,” Roy said as he and John approached Leah.

“That would be great,” Leah replied with a smile. “So you guys are two of the original paramedics?”

“That’s right, but don’t say that too often, it’s beginning to make me feel old,” Roy said, chuckling. First they gave Leah a tour of the squad and procured a helmet and turnout coat for her, and then took her on a tour of the station.

“So, that concludes the tour,” Roy said, as they came back into the bay. “How about we go in the dayroom and get some….” He was interrupted by the tones. Leah was startled, hearing the tones for the first time. She watched as the men began to scramble for their places in the vehicles. “So much for coffee,” Roy muttered as he took off for the driver’s side of the squad.

John grabbed Leah by the arm and pulled her toward the passenger side door. Leah climbed in, followed by John. Sitting between the two paramedics, she only remembered to put her helmet on when she saw John putting his on. Cap handed Roy a slip of paper, which was then passed to John. Cap then trotted across the bay to take his place in the engine.

Pulling out of the bay, Roy spoke. “We need to set some ground rules.” He never took his eyes off the road in front of him. “You’re acting as a paramedic trainee, right?”

“Right,” Leah said, wondering what was coming next; Roy sounded so serious.

“In that case, until further notice, you will take your lead either from John or me. Is that understood?”

“Yes,” Leah said

“I’m not telling you anything I wouldn’t tell any other trainee.”

“I know, I understand, it’s procedure.” Leah understood what Roy was telling her, in this situation she was not a nurse. As a nurse, in any other situation, she would have been able to act without Roy or John’s direction. However, as a paramedic trainee, she had to follow their lead.

“Right,” Roy said.

Shortly after this exchange, they reached their destination, a traffic accident involving two cars. One had broadsided the other trying to make it through a red light. Both cars were crumpled. Leah had often wondered why the whole station was called out on a traffic accident. Now she knew. The sheer manpower needed to extract the victims from the cars was just one reason.

All she could do, at first, was stand back and watch the men working. When the victims were extracted and accessible, she followed Roy’s lead in treating them and getting them ready to transport to the hospital. She had no problem with the medical aspects of working as a paramedic, her skills as an ER nurse stood her in good stead in that regard.

Working in the field was new to her and somewhat different than she had imagined. There was a rawness to it that surprised her. Another thing that surprised her was the consummate professionalism of Roy and John. In the field, the paramedics were as competent as any professional she had worked with in the ER was. Very quickly it became obvious to her that both of them knew exactly what they were doing.

After the victims were treated and delivered to the hospital Roy, John and Leah went to the cafeteria to take a break before heading back to the station.

“Well,” said Roy, “what did you think of your first rescue?”

“It was very…educational,” Leah replied. “I’ve never been on the scene of an accident before.”

“You haven’t done any field work?”

“No, only ER and floor nursing,” Leah explained. “It was different out there. A lot like the ER only…different.”

“Yeah, some of our rescues make the ER look pretty tame,” John said.

“One thing I never really thought about before, was the sheer manpower needed to get the victims out of the cars,” Leah continued. “You can know something but not really know it until you experience it. I mean, I had heard about how difficult it was getting some of our patients out of their cars and I’ve seen the damage done to them in the wrecks…but until I saw it for myself it wasn’t real. Am I making any sense?”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Roy said nodding. “I kind of felt the same way when I was a medic in ‘Nam. I was behind the lines at first. I saw the patients when they came into the clinic and heard the stories about how difficult it was getting them off the front lines and back to where we were. But then I started going to the front lines to get them. Now that…that was real!”

Leah worked only twelve hours a shift, so she left at eight o’clock that evening. After she left, Roy and John sat in the dayroom talking. The engine crew was out on a run so they were alone in the station.

“Are you sure she’s the woman in your dream?” Roy asked now. He and John had been discussing Leah and the dream.

“Yes, I’m sure,” John said.

“Do you think the dream is going to come true?” Roy asked apprehensively.

“You know, Roy,” John said, looking at the other man, a serious expression on his face, “I have had dreams that have come true.” He put up his hand to stop Roy before he could speak. “That doesn’t mean this is one of them, but dreams can come true.”

“All right, dreams can come true,” Roy said, conceding the point. “How do you know if a dream will come true or not?”

“I usually don’t,” John said. “I wish my grandfather were alive, he could help me figure all this out. He’s the one who taught me most of what I know about dreams and spirit guides and all. You know, he even gave me my name.”

“He named you John?”

“No,” John said, somewhat distracted.

“Then what are you talking about?” Roy asked, becoming exasperated.

“He gave me my tribal name…Firewalker,” John said.

“Firewalker? When did he name you that? When you joined the fire department?”

“No, the day I was born,” John said. “The way the story goes, he came into the room where I was, walked over, looked at me and said ‘His name is Firewalker. He will walk through fire and not be consumed.” A thoughtful look came over John’s face and he frowned in concentration.

“Well, that makes sense,” Roy said. “As a firefighter you walk through fire and with all that water and equipment, you don’t get consumed.”

“Wait a minute,” John said, snapping his fingers he spoke. “I hadn’t thought about that in years. You’re not gonna believe this.”

“Not going to believe what?” Roy prompted, though he was not really sure he wanted to know the answer.

“The rest of it,” John said. When Roy started to speak, he cut him off by continuing, “He will walk through fire and not be consumed, he will stand in the flaming ring and not perish.”

“You’re right, I don’t believe it. Did you just make that up?” Roy asked, exasperated.

“No, you can ask my aunt, she was there.”

“You made that up, you’re pulling my leg,” Roy said, hoping he was right.

“Pulling your leg about what?” Chet asked as he came into the room followed by the rest of the engine crew.

“You guys are not going to believe what John just told me,” Roy declared. “Go ahead tell them what you just told me.”

Sighing, John did so. When he finished, the others looked slightly stunned.

“What kind of a joke is this?” Chet asked.

“It’s not a joke, I am telling you the truth,” John said, becoming frustrated. “You can ask my Aunt, she was there. I’ll get her on the phone and you can ask her.”

“John, that’s not necessary,” Cap said, stopping him from rising from his seat, “but you have to admit this story sounds pretty far fetched.”

“Tell them the rest,” Roy said. “Tell them about Leah.”

“What about Leah?” Chet asked, suspiciously.

“Leah is the woman in my nightmare,” John said. Once again the other men looked at him incredulously. “I know it sounds far fetched,” John said exasperated, “but it’s true, she looks exactly like her!”

“Right, John,” Chet said sarcastically. “Can we talk about something else now? This is getting too weird.”

“I’m going to bed,” John said, standing up.

“You don’t have to go off in a huff,” Chet said, “we can talk about it if you want to.”

“No, I don’t want to, Chet,” John snapped, “I didn’t sleep well last night; I’m tired. Goodnight,” he said, leaving the room. The other men looked at each other and shrugged.

Hearing the scream, Roy was instantly awake. Seeing John standing between their bunks, Roy got up and crossed to him. The other men sat up, groaning.

“Not again,” Chet moaned. “John, if this is your way of getting back at me for…”

“John?” Roy said approaching his partner. John stood beside his bunk sweating, trembling, and breathing hard. His panic-filled eyes were wide open, staring. Roy immediately realized his partner was not awake. When he called John’s name; the other man turned to look at him.

“No,” he yelled, “not you too.” Despair filled his voice. Calling his name again, Roy took him by the upper arms and shook him. Gently at first and then, when he got no response, more forcefully.

“John, wake up,” he said firmly. Finally, after several repetitions, the other man’s eyes began to lose their glazed look, focusing on Roy’s face.

“Roy, you’re okay,” he said looking stunned.

“Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You were there, too. There was more to the dream this time,” John explained. Still trembling, he sat down on the edge of his bunk.

“More?” Roy asked, curiosity and apprehension in his voice.

“Yes, you were in it this time,” John said. He covered his eyes with his hands. The other men had left their bunks and were now standing nearby, looks of concern on their faces. This was what John had come to dread, seeing those looks of concern.

“It was just because I was trying to wake you up,” Roy said, hopefully.

“No, it wasn’t,” John said, shaking his head, “you were in a ring of fire.” He looked up at Roy then back down again. "When you called my name, I turned around and saw you standing there; you were in a ring of fire.” No one said anything. No one knew what to say. As the silence lengthened, the tones sounded calling the whole station out on a run.

“Impeccable timing as always,” Roy murmured, as he stepped into his boots.

Roy’s fears that the nightmares would increase were not realized. He was, in fact, surprised when they seemed to decrease. John seemed to accept Leah and they worked together well. Leah learned quickly. Roy soon felt comfortable with her taking the lead, sooner than he would have with most paramedic trainees. Then again, most trainees were not also nurses. Soon the only thing Leah could not do was rescue work. Not having been trained as a firefighter, she was not trained in rescue and safety techniques.

After she had been working with them a few shifts they were called out to a fire. The old building had been fully involved by the time Station 51 arrived on the scene. Recently, the building had been vacated, so no one was in the building when the fire started. Leah, not being a firefighter, was told to stay with the squad. She was prepared should anyone need medical attention. She had the equipment out and ready to go should it be needed. Now all that was left to do was to watch the firefighters work and hope her services would not be needed. Pacing between the squad and the engine, she talked with Mike, asking him questions about the other firefighter’s efforts to extinguish the fire. Mike, who was monitoring gauges on the engine, gave her short, to the point, answers.

After a few minutes of Leah pacing and asking him questions, Mike glanced over at her and realized that she did not have her helmet on. He knew Leah knew the rules, she had to have her helmet on, even if she was back away from the building by the squad. Never having seen her break the rule before, he was puzzled by it now.

“Where’s your helmet?” he asked.

“The band broke, I didn’t have time to get it fixed or replaced,” Leah explained.

“You still need to have it on,” Mike replied, “you could get hurt, should anything happen.”

“I know, but if I put it on it comes down over my eyes, and if I push it back so I can see, it falls off,” Leah explained.

“Okay, look, get in the engine,” Mike said, after a moment’s thought, “back here in Marco’s seat. You can still see what’s going on, but you’ll be safer in there.”

Leah climbed up to sit in the seat with its back against the back of the driver’s seat. She positioned herself so that she could still see what was going on and still talk to Mike. Less than five minutes, later they heard a loud explosion. Leah recoiled farther back into the seat under the cab’s canopy. She was horrified when she saw brick and mortar flying towards her. From where she sat, she could still see Mike, who looked up when he heard the explosion. Seeing the brick and mortar flying towards him, the engineer turned to run toward the front of the engine. Pieces of brick and mortar rained down on him, knocking him down and covering him. Brick and mortar continued to rain down, forcing Leah to stay where she was. When it was done, she sat stunned for several moments.

Looking out from under the canopy, she saw that debris covered the squad and the area between the squad and the engine. Suddenly her mind cleared and she remembered; Mike was buried under the debris.

“Mike,” she screamed, as she scrambled down from the engine. She began to dig through the debris; some of the chunks were very large and hard to move. Men came running to help including Marco, Chet, and John who began digging to free their crewmate.

Roy, who had expected Leah to be buried under the debris along with Mike, was relieved to see that she had not been. Taking her arm, he helped her up and over to the squad.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Leah replied, “Mike saved my life.” Leah began shaking as she realized what had almost happened to her.

“Roy, he’s alive! We’re going to need Rampart pretty quick,” John called.

“Get the biophone set up, Leah,” Roy said, then looked at her, hard. “Are you going to be alright?”

“Yes, of course!” Leah said, squaring her shoulders and looking Roy in the eyes. “Of course I am!” Roy nodded and gathered up the drug box while Leah picked up the biophone. They moved over toward where Mike lay, by now mostly uncovered. Lying face down, he was still unconscious. Leah shuddered when she thought, fleetingly, that, if not for Mike, she could have been covered with debris as well. She pushed the thought aside as she set up the biophone and attempted to contact rampart.

“Rampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?” she said into the phone. She was never so glad to hear anyone’s voice as she was Dixie’s just then.

“Go ahead 51, we read you loud and clear.”

“Rampart we have a firefighter down…” Leah relayed the man’s condition to Rampart as the two paramedics worked on Mike.

When they had gotten Mike on the backboard and loaded him into the ambulance, Leah and Roy rode with him. Shortly after they started the journey to Rampart, Mike began to regain consciousness.

“Leah,” Mike said, looking around in confusion.

“Right here, Mike,” Leah said, leaning forward and squeezing the hand she had already been holding.

“You’re alright,” Mike said in relief.

“Yes, just fine, thanks to you,” Leah replied.

Later, in the lounge, Roy asked Leah, “What exactly happened out there? Mike was buried in debris and you don’t have a scratch on you.”

“That’s because I was in Marco’s seat when the building exploded,” Leah explained, “Mike saw that I didn’t have my helmet on and told me to sit up in the Engine where I would be safer if anything should happen.” Wiping at the tears in her eyes, she continued, “it couldn’t have been more than five minutes before the explosion. If it hadn’t been for him, I could’ve ended up….” Leah let the sentence trail off as she buried her face in her hands, crying in earnest now.

John came in a short time later with Dr. Brackett. Leah and Roy looked up when they heard the door open. Dr. Brackett gave them a tight smile. “Well, we have one very lucky firefighter tonight. While he suffered a mild concussion and multiple contusions, Mike had no broken bones and no internal injuries. He should be okay in a few days.”

As a nurse, Leah’s credentials were impeccable, but until now Roy had not been sure of her trustworthiness in a crisis situation. Leah’s performance during Mike’s rescue, however, left no doubt in Roy’s mind that she could be trusted. Though shaken by the incident, she had not broken down until after the rescue.

Several shifts later, they were called to an apartment complex. An older building in disrepair, it had no elevator, so they climbed the four flights of stairs. As they neared the fourth floor, they heard the sound of raised voices.

“She’s perfectly fine,” a male voice was shouting. “Just leave her alone!”

“She’s not ‘fine’,” another male voice said, this one was not shouting, but was strong and authoritative. Topping the last of the stairs, Roy was able to see a man in the navy blue uniform of the LAPD. Roy recognized the tall, dark haired man as Officer Jim Reed. Roy and John had met Reed on many occasions in the line of duty and they had become friends. Jim turned from the doorway of an apartment to greet them as they approached.

“What do we have?” Roy asked, as the other two entered the room.

“We have a woman down. We were called by the neighbors because she and her…boyfriend,” Jim indicated the man who was in the apartment, “were having a shouting match. Soon after we got here, the woman passed out.”

John and Leah were already at the woman’s side beginning their examination. Roy went into the apartment and began to set up the biophone. The woman was lying on the floor of the apartment, which Roy noted smelled of something rotting. A man was struggling with Officer Pete Malloy, trying to prevent the paramedics from doing their job. Pete held back the man who was shouting at the paramedics to leave the woman alone.

“Leave her alone, you clowns,” he said. “Wha’d’ya think you’re doin’? She’s fine, just a little high. When it wears off, she’ll be fine.” He kept repeating the same thing over and over.

“Mr. Jonas, calm down. The paramedics are just trying to help,” Pete said, in a tightly controlled voice.

“Trying to help!?” Mr. Jonas, yelled pushing against Pete’s restraining arm. “They’re killing her…that’s what they’re doing…she doesn’t need their help. Get away from her, leave her alone, you clowns.”

Meanwhile, it was quickly becoming apparent to the paramedics that the woman was not going to be fine. She was, indeed, dying on them. They relayed her vitals to Rampart, started an IV, and prepared the woman for transport. Getting her out of the building was tricky, but was accomplished quickly and efficiently. They loaded the woman into the ambulance and Roy and Leah got in with her.

Mr. Jonas was still struggling with Pete. He wanted to go in the ambulance with the woman, but was restrained by Pete and Jim.

“We’ll bring him to the hospital in the car,” Pete told Roy. Roy nodded and John closed the doors to the back of the ambulance.

“If she dies,” Mr. Jonas said, looking directly at John, “You’re goin' ta pay, all three of you clowns are goin’ ta pay.” He spoke through gritted teeth, pushing against the officers restraining hands, his face contorted with anger.

John had heard enough of the man’s ravings. “If she dies, you should be the one to pay, you and the dope pusher who provided the drugs that killed her,” John said angrily.

“Ya jus’ better not let her die,” Mr. Jonas shouted back, lunging at him. Malloy and Reed pulled the man back and guided him to the car, putting him in the back seat.

John went to the squad and climbed in. After taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly. Anger was not going to help the situation. After calming down, the paramedic followed the police car down the road toward Rampart General Hospital. When he reached the hospital, Roy and Leah were coming out of a treatment room. Pete and Jim had entered the hospital with Mr. Jonas at the same time as John.

“How is she?” John asked, approaching Roy and Leah.

“Not good,” Roy said shaking his head.

“She arrested a few minutes before we got here,” Leah said. “They’re working on her now.”

“You let her die? You clowns let her die.” Mr. Jonas started shouting again. He began ranting and raving. Dr. Morton came out of the treatment room, looking gloomy, followed by an equally gloomy Dixie. When he was met with questioning looks by those standing in the hall, Dr. Morton shook his head in the negative.

“We never got her back,” he said on a sigh.

“You let her die!” Mr. Jonas yelled. “She would have been just fine if you clowns hadn’t interfered. You belong in a circus all three of you!”

Pete and Jim restrained Mr. Jonas, who was highly agitated. Dr. Morton, seeing how agitated the man was, asked the officers if he needed treatment also. When they answered in the affirmative, Dr. Morton directed them into another treatment room. As he was taken across the hall, into the treatment room, Mr. Jonas yelled over his shoulder:

”Just remember what I told you.”

“What was that all about?” Roy asked as the man disappeared.

“Oh, he’s higher than a kite,” John said shaking his head in exasperation. “He said we would all pay if she died.”

“Pay how?” Leah asked.

“He didn’t specify,” John said, shrugging. “I suspect when he comes down off his high, he won’t even remember what he said.”

“Who’s for coffee?” Dixie asked. “I think there’s a fresh pot in the break room.”

John woke once more in a sweat, standing in the middle of his room. He hadn’t had the dream in months. Why was he having it again now, all of a sudden? Making his way over to the bed, he sat down on the side of it. What disturbed him the most was that he was now more convinced than ever that the woman in his dream was Leah. And then there was Roy. Once again he had seen Roy just before he had awakened. He wished his grandfather were still alive. He would be able to tell him what to do. His grandfather would know the significance of the dream.

John knew it was time to resolve the dream. He did not want his crewmates to look at him in concern as they had when he had the dreams before. He had hoped the dream’s absence had meant it was not going to come true and had been just a passing thing. Now he knew there was more to it, and he had to find out what. He would have to try and remember what his grandfather had taught him about dreams and spirit guides. Years before, when his grandfather had tried to teach him he’d had little use for spirit guides. Now he regretted not listening more closely.

Walking back to the middle of the room, John sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath he relaxed and began to try and remember what his grandfather had taught him about communicating with his spirit guide. For a long while, John sat in the darkness breathing deeply and trying to relax and picture the place where his spirit guide dwelt. Never before had he had so much difficulty with this exercise. He couldn’t picture anything. Finally it dawned on him that he was seeing the room around him with his eyes closed. He saw the room just as clearly as he would have seen it with his eyes open. Before him, in a thin line from floor to ceiling, was a column of light. The rest of the room was dark. He watched in fascination as the thin column of light began to move, becoming shorter and broader. Then it began to move towards him. When the column of light was midway between him and the wall he saw a human figure begin to appear. At first he was puzzled, but then as the light drew nearer, he recognized the figure as that of his grandfather.

“Grandfather, is that you?” John asked, not knowing if he would get a reply or not.

“Yes, it is I, Grandson,” the figure in the column of light replied. The light continued to glow around him but the old man had grown clearer.

“Why are you here, Grandfather?” John asked puzzled. “Have you come to help me find my spirit guide?”

“No,” Grandfather replied. “I have come to help you find your way.”

“Are you my spirit guide now, Grandfather?” John asked, still puzzled.

“No, Grandson,” Grandfather said. “But I am here to guide you. When the time comes, you must remain calm and unafraid.”

“What do you mean, Grandfather?” John asked.

“You will know when the time comes,” Grandfather replied and then was swallowed up in the column of light which extinguished itself before John could respond.

“Grandfather?” John said. He could no longer see the room around him in his mind’s eye. All he could see was darkness. What had his Grandfather meant by what he had said? Was he to stand in the ring of fire and be calm and unafraid when a woman’s life was at stake? It just didn’t make sense.

Those three clowns belong in a three-ring circus, he thought to himself. If they had not been there, she never would have died. They should have to pay for it, he thought, it was their fault she had died. Remembering his promise to the paramedics, he decided he would make them pay. They were clowns, all three of them and they belonged in a circus. Why not put them in one…a three-ring circus? He did not necessarily want to kill them. Just give them the scare of their lives. Though if something more should happen, he would not be too unhappy about it. A plan began to form in his mind.

“It’s too bad Leah isn’t going to really be a paramedic. I would trust her in any situation.” Roy said, giving Leah his highest recommendation. Dr. Brackett, Captain Stanley, Roy and John were seated at the table in the kitchen. It was Leah’s last shift with Roy and John and they were reviewing her performance as they would any other paramedic trainee. John nodded his head in agreement.

“I agree, she would make an excellent paramedic.”

“Too bad she isn’t a firefighter,” Cap said.

Dr. Brackett chuckled. “I’m glad she’s not going to be a paramedic,” he said. “My ER needs good nurses, too.”

“You know, Doc,” Roy said, “I keep forgetting she’s a nurse.”

“I think we should make her an honorary paramedic or something,” John said.

“That’s a good idea, John,” Roy said. “What do you think, Doc?”

“I suppose we could do that,” Dr. Brackett said.

Roy was thankful that Leah’s training was over without John’s dream having come true. Now that she would not be working with them anymore he felt he could breathe a sigh of relief. John had told him about his talk with his grandfather. John had seemed convinced that something would happen, somehow the dream would come true. But Roy felt sure that it would not now.

After Leah had graduated the paramedic program, the guys had expected to see less of her. As it happened, they saw her practically every shift at Rampart. She kept them updated on the progress of her book and promised that they would be able to read the manuscript when she was done with it. She told them she wanted them to read it for two reasons. One reason was to satisfy their curiosity. Another reason was so that if anything technical was wrong, it could be corrected before the book went to print.

Roy had not thought much about it until the day John brought up the fact that Leah had not asked to interview them. Then, thinking back to the conversations they’d had, he realized that Leah had gotten a lot more information from the two of them than she would have in a formal interview. Her basic technique had been to ask one or two questions and then simply listen to John talk.

Several weeks later, on a supply run to Rampart first thing in the morning, the paramedic’s greeted Dixie who was seated behind her desk doing paperwork. After getting the needed supplies, they were preparing to leave when John spoke.

“Isn’t Leah working this shift?” he asked, puzzled. He had been looking around curiously for several moments.

“She’s supposed to be,” Dixie said, frowning. “She hasn’t made it in yet. Why?”

“Oh, well, I guess I’ve just gotten used to seeing her here,” John said, shrugging his shoulders. “I guess we’ll be seeing her later then.”

“More than likely,” Dixie said, smiling.

When the guys got to the squad and were putting the supplies away, Roy asked John, “You aren’t thinking of dating Leah, are you?”

“No, I did think about it, but no,” John said. “I had that dream again last night.”

Roy cringed, he did not have to ask which dream John was talking about, so much for it being over.

“Did you?” he asked.

“Yeah, last night was the first time in months.” John said, he sounded disheartened. “I thought it was over. I thought that since I’d stopped having it, and Leah wasn’t working with us anymore, that it was just a dream. But now…”

“Now…” Roy said, prompting him, though he was not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

“Now, I can’t shake the feeling that something is going to happen.” John said. Roy walked around the squad to the driver’s side as John closed the doors on the supply compartment, and opened the passenger door of the squad.

“You don’t think the dream is going to come true, do you?” Roy asked, apprehensively. It was not so much that he was afraid of the dream coming true, as he was concerned that John would obsess about it and drive him nuts.

“I don’t know, Roy,” John said, shaking his head. “I hope not, but like I said, I just can’t shake this feeling that something’s wrong.” John and Roy were silent for a few moments, then John grinned. “It’s probably just my imagination. Let’s get going.”

Roy knew John’s change of attitude was not genuine, but he was willing to go along with it because he knew John was making an effort to be upbeat. And maybe, no probably, it was just his imagination. Roy started the squad and drove back to the station.

They stayed busy with runs all morning, several of which ended up at Rampart. Each time, John hoped that he would see Leah there, safe and sound. He did not. Just before noon he asked Dixie about her again.

“She hasn’t come in yet and I am beginning to worry,” Dixie said. “I called her home phone just now and she didn’t answer, so she's probably not there, and no one knows any reason why she's not here.”

Hearing her reply to John’s question, Roy felt a knot begin to form in the pit of his stomach. There had to be a logical explanation, he knew there was one. But it was beginning to look like his partner was right, something was wrong. The expression on John’s face told him that he was more than a little concerned.

“Is something the matter, John?” Dixie asked, seeing the expression on his face.

“No, nothing really,” John said, grinning. “It’s just that it’s not like Leah not to let you know if she wasn’t going to be here. I’m just wondering where she could be. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for why she isn’t here.”

“I’m sure there is, too. I just wish I knew…” Dixie started to reply to his comment but was cut short by the HT in Roy’s hand.

“Well, gotta go Dix,” Roy said as he and John quickly exited the building on their way to another run.

Everything was ready. Having abducted the woman, he was ready to lure the two paramedics into his trap. He had it all worked out. After a concentrated search, he had found just what he was looking for. A chemical in which he had soaked the wood, so that it would burn clear, hot, and high. Not too much smoke, though. He didn’t want them to be discovered too soon and smoke was sure to draw attention. And, should water be used to put the fire out, it would only make it worse. He chuckled to himself, thinking about the other firefighters, should they become involved, rushing to those clown’s rescue, only to make matters worse by pouring water on the fire.

He had the pieces of wood laid out carefully, ready for them. Now all he had to do was to put the rest of his plan into action.

About mid-afternoon, Leah still had not put in an appearance at Rampart, nor did she answer her phone at home. Roy knew his partner was obsessing but was trying not to show it. John had become quiet, and for him that was a sure sign he was deeply concerned. He had even let a jibe by Chet go unchallenged when they had finally gotten to sit down for a quick lunch. Chet had exchanged a worried look with Roy. They had told the engine crew about Leah not showing up for work and about the dream recurring.

He didn’t have to explain the significance of either. They all knew that Leah would have called if she were going to be late, or not able to come in. And they all knew about the dream and Leah’s resemblance to the woman.

Chet had tried a couple of times to harass John, but all the other man did was to stare at him blank faced. He hated it when the paramedic did that. He looked like Chet’s idea of a carved wooden Indian, and it gave him the willies.

Roy and John were just finishing their lunch, when the tones sounded calling them out to a “woman down” run. They arrived at their destination to find an empty warehouse. Pulling up outside the warehouse, they looked for anyone who might have called in a report. The call had been for a woman down, but no other information was available. John went to check inside while Roy picked up the squad’s mic.

“LA, Squad 51…” Roy said into the mic.

“Go ahead, Squad 51…” came back over the radio.

“LA, can you verify the address for this call?” Roy asked. LA replied with the address they were at. “LA. This is a deserted warehouse, can you get the PR on the phone and verify the address?” Moments later, Roy was told that there was no answer at the phone number the person reporting had given. The hairs on Roy’s neck began to stand up on end. John had not returned from his inspection of the warehouse. “LA. Be advised that my partner went to check the inside of the warehouse and has not returned. I am going to go see if I can find him.” Roy dropped the mic and headed for the door of the warehouse through which John had disappeared only moments before, as LA dispatch acknowledged the transmission.

As Roy entered the warehouse, he saw that it was empty except for some spools of industrial paper that had been left behind. He assessed them without even thinking about it, noting that the paper was old and dry, a definite fire hazard. He stepped further into the warehouse. Sunlight filtered in through the dirty windows, making the warehouse dim but not dark. When his eyes adjusted to the dimness, he saw a figure lying on the floor. He was about to hurry over to it when he felt someone grab him from behind. His mouth and nose were covered with a soft cloth. Before long, he felt himself losing consciousness. He fought to stay awake, fought to release himself from the grip that held the cloth over his nose and mouth. In the end he lost the battle and slumped down onto the floor.

This was working perfectly. He had not hoped in his wildest dreams that it would be this easy. He had grabbed the woman on her way out to her car that morning. He had kept her drugged. But soon she would be coming out of it. She would be feeling the effects of the drug for some time to come. She would get a first hand look at how much fun the trip could be. Then the other two clowns would get the fun of watching.

Now he dragged Roy into his own ring. The rings had been prepared earlier, so that all he had to do was to drag the men into their rings and rearrange a few pieces of wood. Now with the last man in his ring and everything arranged properly, all was set for his own private circus. His very own, private, three-ring circus, he chuckled as he thought about it. He would just see how they liked being in a three-ring circus, where they belonged. Carefully, he set each one on fire. It didn’t take long for the fire to make its way all the way around the circles. The flames burned high and hot with hardly any smoke, he was satisfied to note. Then he made his way up onto the platform that ran along the walls of the warehouse, just under the windows. From his own private viewing balcony, he could see everything. Grinning, he watched as his own private circus got underway.

The rings where not connected, but were laid out in a shallow triangle. The woman’s was in the middle, the top of the triangle with the men’s rings on either side. As he watched, the first of his clowns began to stir.

“Squad 51, what is your status?” Dispatch was beginning to get worried. Squad 51 should have called in with a status by now. Whether it was “on scene, rescue in progress” or “false alarm, returning to quarters.” But for more than 15 minutes now, the radio had remained silent. No call from 51 had come in.

At station 51 the tones sounded. The men scrambled as the call came over the speaker. “Station 51, assist squad 51, woman down.” When he had finished giving the address, he added, “Station 51 be advised that Squad 51 has not confirmed a rescue and has not contacted dispatch for 20 minutes.”

“Station 51, KMG365,” Cap said, frowning. They were at least 30 minutes away from the location. There were any number of reasons why the squad would not have contacted dispatch, but he could not think of one that did not indicate that squad 51 was in some sort of trouble.

His head hurt. That was the first thing he thought, when he was able to think. His next thought was that it was hot. Unbearably hot. Crackling sounds penetrated the fog he was in. He knew that sound, what was is it? Suddenly the fog cleared and he knew what the sound was. He opened his eyes and what he saw confirmed what he had known. A woman’s scream rent the air. John scrambled to his feet. He was standing in a ring-of-fire. At first he couldn’t see the woman but he knew who she was. Then he could see her standing in a ring-of-fire a few feet from his own and beyond hers, another ring. A still figure lay in the far ring. He knew instinctively that it was Roy.

“Help me!” Leah screamed. “I have to get out of here.” She was screaming and running around in her circle trying to find a way out. He was afraid she would try to leap the flames. She would not be able to do so because the flames were burning too high and hot.

“Leah,” he called to her, “Leah, listen to me. Calm down, you have to calm down.” John suddenly remembered his grandfather’s words. Now, assessing the situation, he saw that the best thing they could do was to wait until the flames burned themselves out. He knew the wood must have been soaked in some sort of chemical, he could smell it. But, unless there was something else hidden the piles of wood, he saw nothing to fear. But Leah was not calming down. She was becoming more agitated by the moment. If he did not know better he would have said she was tripping out on something. Just as he thought that, he realized that was just exactly what she was doing.

“They’re all over me,” Leah screamed. “I have to get away from them. I have to get out of here.”

“Leah, listen to me.” John said loudly but calmly, authoritatively. “Leah, calm down. You can’t get out, just stand in the middle of the ring.”

“But they’ll get me, they’re already crawling all over me,” Leah said, still agitated. “John help me, please.”

“Just sit down in the middle of the ring,” John said, still doing his best to sound authoritative. “Do it, NOW,” he said when she just stood moving from one foot to the other in agitation. Finally, Leah did as she was told and sat down in the middle of the ring. John looked over at Roy still lying in his circle of fire, wondering why he had not regained consciousness yet. John noticed that the rings of fire were in the middle of a large warehouse that was empty, except for several spools of dry industrial paper. The spools were large and almost all still full of paper. Only one was near enough to the fires to be in immediate danger of catching fire. The rings were laid out in a shallow triangle with Leah’s ring being the top point on the triangle with the other two rings on either side. The spool of paper that worried John was on the other side of Roy’s ring.

Roy moaned and began to stir. Before long he had scrambled to his feet and surveyed his surroundings.

“Roy, just stay calm,” John called to him hoping his partner was not drugged as Leah had apparently been. Roy was somewhat alarmed but he was not tripping out.

“What happened?” he asked somewhat confused, “How did we get here?”

“I’m not sure,” John called.

“Leah?” Roy exclaimed, astonished to see her sitting in a ring-of-fire.

“Leave her alone,” John called to him, “she’s tripping out on something; I finally got her calmed down.”

Leah had been sitting in the middle of her ring-of-fire with her knees folded and drawn up to her chest, her arms around her knees, head on her knees, rocking herself, agitatedly. At first she had been moaning loudly, but now she was silent, her agitated rocking, stilled. John hoped it was because she was coming down off whatever drug she had been given.

Suddenly, the spool of paper John had been eyeing burst into flame. The heat from the fire had caused it to spontaneously combust.

This was too perfect. He had planned this so well. Everything was going according to plan. His clowns were doing just what he had wanted them to. He watched as Leah cried out in fear and agitation, as she tried to escape from the ring-of-fire. He laughed when she said there were bugs crawling all over her. That was what Abby had said that last time, just before they got there to botch things up. He was disappointed when Leah finally sat down in the middle of the ring, he had hoped she would be more entertaining. Then he saw Roy wake up and scramble to his feet. He was surprised and delighted when the spool of paper caught fire. Now he would see some action from his clowns.

Feeling his Captain’s urgency and realizing the implications of the situation, Mike pushed the engine to her limits. When they arrived on scene, they found the squad sitting outside the warehouse. Neither Roy nor John was anywhere in sight. They found all the equipment still in the squad. Where were Roy and John? Why hadn’t they taken their equipment with them? Looking around, Cap spotted the door to the warehouse.

“Marco, go check and see if that door’s open,” he said. Taking his HT out of his turnout coat pocket he spoke into it. “LA….”

Mike and Chet stood by their Captain as he spoke with dispatch. They surveyed the area and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Moments later, Marco was rushing back towards them.

“Cap, fire,” he called, “Fire in the warehouse.”

Cap called orders that were already being carried out. Marco and Chet pulled hose and ran towards the door of the warehouse as Cap once again spoke with dispatch on his HT, informing them of the fire. Mike was priming the hoses and double checking his gauges. Cap followed Marco and Chet into the warehouse. The lack of smoke from the fire puzzled him. As he entered the warehouse, he saw both his paramedics and Leah each in the middle of their own ring-of-fire. On the other side of Roy at the far end of the warehouse, one of the spools of paper was burning rapidly. Chet and Marco aimed their hoses at the fire rings and prepared to turn them on. Just then, what had been nagging the Captain in the back of his mind surfaced. The fire was a chemical one, one that would explode when water was applied, he could tell by the smell.

“No,” he cried to Chet and Marco stopping them. “Don’t turn those hoses on. Get them out of here. We need foam.” He once again spoke into his HT requesting a foam truck to their location.

Having seen the firemen run in with the hoses, he had been at first excited, then he realized that he was in danger. If they sprayed water on the fire it would explode and he would be caught in the burning warehouse. His perch, that up until now had seemed so perfect for viewing the show going on below him, now seemed like a death trap. The only thing he could think was that he had to get out of the warehouse and the only way to do that was by the door he and the others had come in. All his plans were about to go off with a bang and he did not want to be there when they did.

Running for the stairs near the door at the far end of the warehouse, he did not care how much noise he made. The captain and the others, retreating with the hoses, heard him clattering on the stairs. He hurried on knowing none of them were close enough to catch him.

Cap, seeing the man running down the stairs, started forward after him. He reached the door seconds after the man. Outside, he saw two police officers getting out of their cars. “Stop him,” he called to them. The officers chased the man and tackled him a short distance from the warehouse.

Inside the warehouse, with the added heat from the spool of paper, the air was becoming superheated. John was afraid that more of the spools of paper would go up in flames. He had heard the Captain calling for a foam truck, he only hoped the three of them were still alive when it got there. He was so hot he felt as if he could spontaneously combust at any time.

Leah was still sitting in the middle of her ring with her arms clutching her knees, which were drawn up to her chest. Her head rested on her knees. She had become very still; she had not moved in several minutes. John feared she had lost consciousness.

When the foam truck finally arrived, foam was sprayed on the burning rings. It covered the floor, turning it into a sea of foam. After the foam had put out the chemical fire, the hoses were brought back in and the paper was sprayed down, burning and not burning alike.

Leah had also been covered with foam. As soon as the fire surrounding them was out, the two paramedics made their way over to where they had last seen her. Up to their knees in foam, they slid their way across the floor, moving wood out of the way as they went. When they got to her, they found that she was not unconscious but catatonic. Exhausted, the two men sat down beside Leah.

“She’s out of it,” John said ruefully, as he lifted her head and saw her vacant stare. “Damn the man. What did he give her?”

“I don’t know, but here’s where he injected it.” Roy said, indicating a puncture wound on the arm he had pried loose from its’ grip on her knees. “Looks like he knew what he was doing, whoever it was.”

“Yeah, we need to get her out of here,” John said. Just then Cap hurried up to them slipping in the foam as he came.

“Are you guys okay?” Cap asked. Mike, Marco and Chet slid to a halt behind him.

“Yeah, we’re okay,” John said. Just a little heat exhaustion…but whoever did this…injected with Leah something…I don’t know what... she’s catatonic.”

“We got the guy who did this,” Cap said, as Mike picked Leah up and started to carry her out of the warehouse.

“You did?” Roy asked.

“Yeah, some kook,” Chet said. “He keeps talking about ‘those clowns.’” Roy and John looked at one another startled, as both remembered where he had heard that term before.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Cap said. Both paramedics attempted to stand, but failed. John felt his head begin to swim as he tried to rise from his sitting position. Putting his arm around the other man, Chet helped him to stand. Grateful for the support, John put his arm around the other man’s shoulders. Cap and Marco were helping Roy in a similar manner. When they got outside they saw 36’s squad just arrived.

Brice and Bellingham were out of the squad and getting their equipment out of the equipment bay. Bellingham had stopped Brice’s constant locking of the doors by simply taking the key away from him. Bellingham intimidated Brice, who was intimidated by few, in large part because Bellingham had no qualms about following through on threats. On the other hand, Brice had been able to get Bellingham more in line with regulations. Both were good paramedics and now they worked as a team. They began to work on Leah as the other men approached. Mike explained to them about the fire and told them what John had said about Leah having been given some kind of drug.

“We believe it was that guy,” Mike said, indicating the man standing beside Vince’s squad car handcuffed.

“And you don’t know what it was?” Bellingham asked. Mike shook his head. When the others got to them, neither John nor Roy was in any shape to answer any questions.

“They’re burning up,” Brice said, when he examined the now prostrate paramedics. “We need to get them cooled down, all three of them. Get a hose and run water over them.” As the engine crew hurried to comply, Brice stood and began to walk toward Vince.

“Hey, Brice, what do you think you’re doing,” Bellingham called from his position beside Leah.

Pausing, Brice turned and said, “I’m going to see if I can find out what he gave Leah.” Then he turned and continued on before Bellingham could respond. Approaching Vince and the handcuffed man, Brice greeted Vince. “Hello Vince, I need to ask this man a question or two.”

“Go ahead, see if you can get anywhere with him,” Vince said. Nodding Brice, turned to the man he wanted to question.

“What did you give the woman?” he asked, pushing his glasses back up on his nose.

“Who says I gave her anything?” the man responded.

“Come on, tell the man what you gave her, so he can help her,” Vince said, sternly.

“Just a little hair of the dog, that’s all,” Mr. Jonas said, shrugging, then he narrowed his eyes, menacingly. “I told them they would pay. I told those clowns, if they let her die, they would pay for it.” He started chuckling, then began laughing loudly. Vince did his best to quiet him but he just kept laughing. Brice knew he would get no more from him.

John and Roy were still out when he returned to them. All he and Bellingham could do was to start the IV’s and transport their patients to the emergency room. When Brice got to Rampart with Leah, Doctors Brackett and Morton were waiting for them. Brice had talked to Brackett on the biophone. Now, he updated him on Leah’s condition. Both doctors frowned with concern.

“You couldn’t get anymore out of the man?” Dr. Brackett asked when Brice had finished his update, referring back to what Brice had told him over the biophone.

“No,” Brice said, shaking his head, “he just said that he had given her ‘a little of the hair the dog.’ Oh, and that he had told them they would pay if ‘she’ died.”

“If who died?” Brackett asked, bewildered.

“I don’t know,” Brice said shrugging.

“Wait a minute,” Morton said suddenly. “What, exactly, did this man say?”

“He said,” Brice began, narrowing his eyes in concentration. “’I told them,’ no, ’I told those clowns, if she died, they would pay.’”

“Oh, no,” Morton said. “He must have given her the same thing.”

“What are you talking about?” Brackett asked, more puzzled than ever now.

“When Leah was working with John and Roy, they brought in a woman,” Morton explained. “She had been given an overdose and died shortly after they got her here. The man they brought in with her, told them he would make them pay for it. He called them clowns and said he would make them pay. I didn’t think much of it at the time, he was high himself.”

The two doctors went to work on Leah, hoping Morton was right and that it was not too late for Leah. She came out of her catatonic state only to slip into a coma. When they had stabilized her and done all they could for her in the emergency room they sent her to ICU.

Roy and John were treated for heat prostration and released the next day, though they could not return to work until after the next shift. Roy spoke with Brackett about Leah. He couldn’t count the number of times he had heard the speech, but he listened to it again as Dr. Brackett told him. “We’ve done all we can for her, the rest is up to her.” Roy knew it was not as cliché as it sounded. Brackett and Morton truly had done all they possibly could for Leah and now it was up to her which way she would go.

Leah continued in her coma for a week. Roy visited her one day and was allowed to see her for a short time. Seeing her lying there attached to all the monitors, he was dismayed. Leah was one of the most vibrant women he knew. Seeing her lying on the bed, virtually lifeless, was difficult. Taking one of her hands in his, he leaned down to say softly in her ear. “You can’t let this beat you. You have work to do, you have a book to finish.” He stood by the bed holding her hand wishing she would open her eyes, but she didn’t. When his time was up, he reluctantly left the room.

Outside the ICU, life went on normally, except that Leah’s friends waited. When Roy and John came back on shift. None of the trips they made to Rampart, yielded any better news than the time before. Returning to the station without any news, they could see the looks of disappointment on their colleague’s faces. Finally, after a late evening run, the two paramedics checked in with the ICU, again. Throughout the day their main source of information had been Dixie, but her shift had ended hours before and she had gone home. They were surprised when the ICU nurse smiled at them when they asked about Leah. Beckoning to them to follow her, she led them to Leah’s bedside.

“Leah,” the nurse called softly to her, “you have visitors.” Leah opened her eyes slowly and smiled when she saw Roy and John standing beside her bed.

“You’re awake!” John said while Roy just grinned.

“Of course,” Leah said, then smiled weakly, “I have work to do.”

John looked puzzled, but Roy’s smile broadened. “You bet you do!” he said, stepping forward, taking her hand, and squeezing it lightly, “I’m looking forward to reading that book of yours’.”

The End