It Can’t Be

By Wanda C.

As usual, John Gage had a hot date for the weekend, but he was less than thrilled with her. She was the kind of girl who wanted to settle down and get married, which was the last thing that Johnny wanted to do. He did like to brag about his dates to the other guys though, and this girl was really a knock out.

“So, Chester B, did you even have a date this weekend?”

“Who do you think you’re talkin’ to, Gage?”

By this time, all the guys from Station 51’s A-Shift were looking on to see what would be said next. Although none of them would admit it, they all looked forward to these little talks between Johnny and Chet practically every shift. It was an unending contest, which neither cared to win. They just liked to play out.

“Of course I had a beautiful girl on my arm this weekend. What about you Johnny?  Did you find someone dumb enough to go out with the likeness of you?”

“Now, Chester B, you know that I had a woman on my arm that ALL the men wanted.”

Trouble was Johnny was telling the truth: all the men except for him. She was beautiful, intelligent, and sweet, but just too pushy.

“Oh yea, I’ll bet I could take her away from you any time, Gage!”

“Now Chet, that sounds like a challenge to me!” Johnny loved nothing more than a challenge, and if by some miracle, Chet could actually get this girl, he could have her. “Let’s just set the date and time.”

The sound of the klaxons jolted everyone out of their concentration on the date debate.

“Station 51, Truck 8, Station 110, Truck 44,Batallion 14,multi vehicle pile up on the Pasadena Freeway, multiple injuries. Pile up on the Pasadena Freeway between exits 110 and 120, Pasadena Freeway between exits 110 and 120. Time out, 09:12.”

“Station 51, 10-4, KMG365.”

Mike, Chet and Marco were inside the engine and ready to go by the time Captain Stanley climbed in. Johnny and Roy were in the squad, and pulled out quickly. Everyone knew that this was going to be a long run. The morning was foggy, and the dispatcher had no idea just how many cars were involved. The senior paramedic looked at John when he heard choppers being dispatched to the accident scene.  Johnny appeared to be just as concerned.

“Roy, this one’s gonna be hairy.”

“I’m afraid so, Junior.”

As the guys in the engine heard more help being called in, they just looked at one another, each knowing what the other was thinking. Being a fireman was being part of a family, like no other. You often automatically knew what the other guy was thinking without words. It came quickly too. A man did not have to work as a fireman for years to achieve this sixth sense. For most, it came within a few months, and for some, it came even more quickly. Each man in the engine knew how much the others dreaded a call like this one.

When they came upon the scene of the crash, it was more like a movie scene than a real life rescue. The fog was horrible; the cars were in piles, and unrecognizable. All of the firemen on the scene looked at the chaos with disbelief. They had all witnessed the aftermath of crashes on the freeway before, but nothing compared to this one. There was no way to even count the vehicles involved due to the large number.

“Okay guys, let’s get started.”

Generally, the crew had no problems with the orders that Captain Stanley gave, but today things were different. As he glanced around at the inactivity, Cap knew that he needed to get specific with his men, and point them in the right direction.

“Chet, Marco, take an inch and a half to the north side of the pile up, and see if you can tell how many cars are in that section. Take the HT with you, and radio back when you need John and Roy.”

“Mike, you and I will survey the east side of the crash, and see what needs to be done.”

“John, Roy, you take the south side, and be sure to have your HT ready because we will be calling you when necessary.”

With those words, the crew began their gruesome assignments. They really didn’t know what to make of it.

________________________________________________________________________

Chet and Marco made their way up the north side of the crash. There were endless piles of cars. Some of them had people in them that they could access, but unfortunately, neither needed a paramedic for any of these people.

“Cap, we have a real mess up here,” Chet said. “We’re gonna need some heavy equipment to move most of these cars before we can get to the passengers.”

“Sounds like you’re seeing the same thing that we’re seeing, Pal. The equipment is on its way.”

________________________________________________________________________

Johnny and Roy were seeing the same sites. For them it was even more painful since they had the skill, as well as the equipment, to help any survivors. The problem was, if there were survivors, how to get to them.

They finally happened upon a pile of cars, and heard some screams from one of the vehicles. This relieved Johnny and Roy; even though there seemed to be some trauma, someone was alive.

"Engine 51, HT 51.  Cap, this is John. We need some help here. There are some screams coming from a pile of cars that we can’t get to at this time. We need some heavy equipment to move some of this stuff."

“10-4, John.”

“Roy, do you think we can get any closer at all to where the screams are coming from?"

“Well, these cars are pretty unstable. Maybe we should wait on the equipment to secure these cars.” Before he realized what was going on, Roy saw Johnny run like a flash to the pile of cars. The fog was still eerily hanging among them, like a blanket of death.

“Johnny, get out of there, now! I’m the senior paramedic here and that’s an order.”

“Roy, I can see her.”

“Johnny, these cars aren’t stable. Get out of there before they all pile on top of ya.”

Johnny slowly made his way from the stack of cars. Unfortunately the screaming was coming from one of the cars near the bottom of the pile. He felt so helpless, and he would have rather stayed where he was, and try to communicate, but he knew that Roy was right.

Finally, the paramedics saw Captain Stanley, along with someone with the equipment needed to get the cars stabilized enough to rescue whomever was trapped. The screams seemed somewhat muted now; Roy and Johnny were wondering if the person could hold on until the cars were stable.

“Cap, how about I go up on the first three cars, since they're the most stable and see if I can communicate with the victim!  We haven’t heard anything from her for a while now?”

“Be careful, Gage, and let her know that there will be lots of noise, but that help will be on the way for her.”

“Okay, thanks, Cap!”

Johnny did just as ordered, and was very careful, climbing on the most stable cars of the pile. Most of them were so flat that they were not recognizable as to model, or even color. The paramedic had never seen such a mess, and hoped that he never would again. This was enough to make anyone second-guess this profession, and he had an idea that they were just hitting the edges at this point.

“Hello! Hello, this is John Gage from the Los Angeles County fire Department. I just wanted ya to know that there’s gonna be lots of noise out here soon, but don’t be afraid. That just means that help is on the way.” Johnny listened for a response, but could get none. He wasn’t ready to give up yet, but the sooner those cars were stabilized, the better for everyone.

“John, they are gonna begin to work on those cars now, get outta there!” Captain Stanley’s warning was louder than it normally would have been because the equipment was revved up and ready to go. Unfortunately, the Captain was not heard by Johnny, so, he had no clue what was about to happen.

“Johnny! Johnny!” Roy waved his arms, attempting to get his partner’s attention, but to no avail. He couldn’t look at Johnny, as the cranes, and equipment began their descent on him, and the pile of cars.  So he ran waving his arms toward the crane.

That sounds awfully close. Johnny thought, but dismissed it and kept attempting to get any response from the victim, trapped near the bottom of the pile. As far as he could tell, there were about six cars, and he thought the victim’s voice came from the car next to the bottom. As he bent down to check on the victim, the crane began to brace the cars, unaware of the paramedic. Gage had no idea what had hit him, but everything went dark.

“Noooooo,” Roy and Cap yelled as they now approached the crane together at a hurried pace.  Finally, the machinery operator saw the men waving their arms, and stopped the crane.  But it was too late.  Now it was time to get to work.  They had to stabilize the rest of the cars, while looking for Jonnny,and attempting a very difficult rescue of the victim.  Everyone knew what needed to be done, it was just a matter of finding the safest way to do it.

“One of my men was on that pile of cars, attempting to communicate with the victim.”

The man looked in shock at the shambles that now remained of the pile. There was no sign of the paramedic anywhere. He held off panic as he tried to think of a solution.

“If we move these first three cars off the pile, it’ll make things a lot easier, in the long haul.” The crane operator spoke with experience, even though he didn’t like the thought of moving those cars with two victims underneath them somewhere, it made the most sense.

“I suppose you’re right, Jim, but take her easy, okay?” Captain Stanley liked the idea even less than the crane operator did, but he knew that it would be the safest and fastest way of getting to Johnny and the other victim.

While the crane was moving into position, Chet and Marco secured the cars with ropes as well as they could, without upsetting the stack too much. The more cars the crane could remove, the faster the guys could find Johnny, and the other victim. Three sounded like an awfully low number to both Chet and Marco, but at this point, they would take what they could get.

All of Station 51 was there when the crane operator began his tedious task. Everyone knew about Johnny, and despite all his past injuries, being knocked into a pile of wrecked cars on the freeway by a crane was something that had everyone worried. Of course, they were just as concerned about the other victim as well.  No one knew at this point how important that other victim would be.

“This can’t be happening,” Stoker said aloud as he joined the Captain.

“I know the feeling, Pal.”

The first car came off the pile surprisingly easy. Both Chet and Marco had ropes clinging to the bottom cars, in hopes that there would not be a shift when the top cars were removed.

Slowly, the crane began to remove the second car, and had it almost free of the stack, when the impossible happened. Somehow, the car fell onto the pile of cars, and all of them shifted.

Everyone gasped at once, knowing this could mean nothing but catastrophe.

As quickly as possible, the operator grabbed the car again with the crane, and began to remove it, very slowly. When it was removed, both Chet, and Marco secured their lines, and went over for a closer look to see how much further damaged the stack had become.

“It doesn’t look too bad, Cap,” Marco was reassuring himself as much as anyone else.

Finally Chet, and Marco resumed their posts, and the third car was removed. That meant that half the stack was gone. Even though this took precious time, it saved time in the long run, but Roy worried, glancing at his watch, and thinking that the “golden hour” had almost expired since Johnny’s accident.

“Can anyone hear me?  John?” Captain Stanley paused for a moment, when he thought he heard a faint moan underneath the rubble. “Guys, keep everything quiet for one minute. John, can you hear me?” Again, he heard a faint moan, but this time it distinctly came from the car next to the bottom of the stack, and it was that of a female.

“Chet, Marco, let’s get this top car secured with lines, and we can search for John, as we look for the victim.”

The crane operator was still around, and asked if Hank thought it would help if he removed the top car with his crane. That would get them down to the vehicle with the victim.

“Can you do it with no problems like we had before?”

“Well, there are never any promises, but it looks easy enough.”

“Okay, Chet, Marco, leave the lines, he’s gonna remove the top car for us.”

Everyone felt good about this move, especially since Roy and Mike had combed the area of the top car, and Johnny was nowhere to be found. This would get them to the female victim, and to Johnny more quickly.

In the distance, the guys could hear moans and groans. Knowing that this rescue was all his men could handle, Captain Stanley radioed for help near the scene they were working. Much to his amazement, there was no help. Each unit was working on patients, and extra units that had been called to the crash scene were stuck in the bottleneck of traffic, which had become extreme, due to the amount of traffic on the freeway. The police were working to clear the way to the point that the rescue vehicles could proceed. This just can’t be happening, Hank thought, and now he was pondering whether or not to try and have some of his crew go ahead and check out the area where other moans and groans were coming from.

Time is really of the essence, and the “golden hour” has already passed, so these people need help now.

The captain eyed the situation that his men now faced. A woman trapped in a car, that wasn’t even recognizable; and one of their own lost somewhere in the pile. Stanley couldn’t see that he could spare one man. Captains are faced with tough decisions all the time, but rarely had one pulled him in such directions. He finally decided to radio ahead to the chief and tell him the situation.  He'd request help in their general location ASAP. He also requested that a couple of ambulances be sent to their location. With a clear conscience, knowing that he had done all he could do, Hank Stanley watched as the crane operator moved the last car.

The crane moved slowly over to the last car blocking the trapped lady. It seemed that the operator was taking even more time with this one than he had previously taken with the others. He didn’t want another slip, and each of the firemen thought along the same lines.  They were grateful for his caution. Finally the crane was over the last car, and Chet and Marco went over to make sure it was hooked securely before it was moved.

“Looks good,” Chet gave the operator a thumbs up, and he and Marco slowly moved away from the pile.

The crane slowly removed the last car. As soon as all was clear, Roy rushed to the flattened car. He could see a lady in the front seat, bleeding, and barely conscious.

“Hang in there, ma’am, we will get you outta there soon.” Roy managed to get her arm and get a BP and a pulse. He knew that he could start an IV, so his plan was to contact Rampart and get permission.

“Rampart, this is Squad 51, how do you read?”

“Go ahead 51,” Dr. Brackett was waiting for calls to begin coming in with a pile up like this one.

“Rampart, we have a female, who is currently trapped in a vehicle. We are working to get her out. I was able to get to her arm and do somewhat of an evaluation. BP is 100/50;pulse is 110 and thready. She has lost some blood.  I have access to her arm, and request permission to start an IV.”

“10-4, 51, get an IV with ringers started, and report back as soon as you get her out. Keep an eye on that BP, 51. Rampart, out.”

Roy began to get the IV ready, and noticed that the guys were both attempting to open up the car with the jaws- of- life, and look for Johnny at the same time. Basically, Mike was working the jaws, and Chet, and Marco were standing by. Until they were needed, Marco, Chet , and Hank were all looking for Johnny. Roy could tell that they were having no luck so far. His worry was increasing, but knew that he had to focus his attention on his female patient. He went over, talking very calmly to her, and began the IV.  Roy noticed that she was now unconscious. The woman had been drifting in and out of consciousness the entire time, and her vitals were still the same, so he wasn’t too worried. He noticed a purse in the passenger’s seat, and took it out hoping to get an ID and any medical alert information that he could.

“It can’t be,” Roy was thinking out loud and Cap heard him.

“What’s wrong, Pal?” Cap approached Roy, who now looked like he needed medical attention. “Roy, are you okay?”

“Cap, I’m sorry,” DeSoto couldn’t get another word out.

“Roy, come over here and have a seat until they get the roof off that car.  Tell me what’s goin’ on.” By this time Captain Stanley was genuinely concerned that he was about to lose another paramedic, and they couldn’t afford that. Roy was pale, shaking, and looking like he was becoming shocky.

“Cap,” Roy handed him the purse and the ID.

“Oh My God!” Captain Stanley ran to the car, as if he could lift the roof off of his own will.

“Mike, hurry up, and get that top off now!”

Everyone knew that Mike was going as quickly as possible, and suddenly they all stopped looking for Johnny, and rushed to his side; by now Roy was there also.

“What’s up, Cap?” Chet had a way with words, and as usual, his way wasn’t the best way.

Hank Stanley didn’t say a word. He just had a terrified look in his eyes, as he stared at the remnants of the crushed car. Marco noticed that he held a purse in his hands, and when he reached for the purse, Cap nearly knocked him to the ground.

“She’s holding her own, Cap,” Roy then explained to the confused firemen that the lady trapped in the car was Hank Stanley’s wife.

“No wonder he’s in such a mood. I don’t know how I would feel.” Marco was in shock too.

“Well, now we have to all work together to get her out, and help Johnny. Any luck on finding him yet?” Roy was concerned about his partner and his captain.

“Nothing so far,” Chet replied. “The bad thing is that there’s a little crevice between the cars, and as skinny as Gage is, he could be down there somewhere; it could take forever to find him, if he is.”

Mike was almost ready to remove the top from the car. The guys all crowded around to help. Captain Stanley didn’t need to give any orders, which was a good thing because he wasn’t able to think of anything but his wife now. That was fine though, because he had a great crew of guys, and they knew exactly what to do without being told. Slowly they removed the top, and there was Mrs. Stanley; they all knew her, but she was hardly recognizable. There was blood everywhere and her hair, which was always perfect, was a mess.

Roy had the backboard already there, and the guys very carefully placed her limp body on it. They moved her gently down to the biophone, where her vitals, and other information, could easily be relayed to Rampart. Chet was standing by to relay the information that Roy gave him as he got the vitals, and assessed her injuries. Cap Stanley was standing close to his wife, but wasn’t in the way. He knew that Roy needed room to work. Her vitals were actually good, all considered.  When she was conscious it was only briefly, so Hank didn’t have a chance to communicate with his wife.

“Rampart, this is Squad 51, how do you read?”

“Go ahead, 51.”

“Rampart, we have the female patient extracted.  She's age 40. Vitals are: BP 100/50, Pulse 110 and thready, Respiration 30 and shallow. The patient has a cut on her forehead, and pupils are equal and reactive. She has a fracture of the femur on her left leg, with significant blood loss. Patient is cold, and clammy to the touch.”

“51, How are the breath sounds?”

“They are equal, but there appears to be some crushed ribs. We have administered O2, and patient seems to be breathing more easily, but is still unconscious.”

“How long has the patient been unconscious, 51?”

“She’s been in and out of consciousness as long as we have been with her. Rampart be advised, patient is the wife of Captain Stanley.”

Kel shot a look over to Dixie, whose eyes widened at the news. They both couldn’t imagine what Hank must be feeling, having a member of his crew and his wife both injured in the same accident.

“10-4, 51, start another IV with ringers, make sure the patient stays warm, monitor vitals, and report every five minutes.  Continue O2, put shock pants on the patient, and get her in her as soon as possible. Rampart out.” Kel Brackett assumed there must be some internal bleeding with the vitals that he was given.

“10-4, Rampart.  Ambulance just arrived on the scene.” Chet was doing remarkably well with the biophone, and Roy told him so.

“Cap, you gonna ride in with us?” Roy knew that he was torn, knowing that Johnny was still trapped somewhere in the rubble, and knowing that his wife was in critical condition.

“I, I, can’t leave my men. We need to find John.” It was apparent that Cap was in shock himself.

“Cap, I think you need to come along with us, and we can check you out, too. You seem a little shocky to me. The guys will get Johnny, and they have the HT.  They can contact Rampart when they find him. I’m leaving all the supplies that I can behind, in case they don’t have help by the time they find him.”

Reluctantly the captain entered the ambulance, but not without looking back at his skeleton crew, and telling them to find John and get him to Rampart safely. It was the hardest decision that he had ever made, but he knew that Roy was right, to a degree.  He didn’t exactly feel like himself just now, and didn’t know how much help he would be at the site. He knew that A-Shift was the best, and that they could do the difficult job ahead of them.

He wasn’t the only one who hated leaving the scene. Roy knew that his partner was somewhere, and wanted to be there to treat him when he was found. At the very least, they figured he had a head injury. There could be more injuries, likely were, but Roy knew that Mrs. Stanley needed his attention now.

________________________________________________________________________

The other members of the crew began to assess the situation, and decided their next move. They knew that they needed to find Johnny, and the sooner the better. They also knew that he wasn’t in Mrs. Stanley’s crushed Edsel, or even around it. So they agreed to have the crane operator remove the car, and search from there.

Once again, the crane operator very slowly, and steadily, removed another car. This one went very smoothly, and everyone was happy. None of them thought they could take another “accident” in the midst of this one.

They moved in, almost afraid to look.  Just then they all heard a moan, but it wasn’t coming from the pile.  It was over in the other direction. Now they had a dilemma; should they split up and try to help the other victims, or concentrate on finding Johnny, and then help the others? Marco stayed to look for Johnny, while Mike and Chet made their way toward another pile of vehicles.

“I see him!” Marco said with a lot of relief and excitement. Chet, and Mike rushed over to Marco. Apparently, Johnny had fallen just past the Edsel, and into a crevice that had been created by the trashed cars. If one more car was moved, they could easily get to him, but there was always the risk of another accident, like the one that happened earlier, and that could mean that Johnny could be even harder to reach. So Mike had the crane operator inspect the car, and see if it could easily be moved.  He said it would be no problem.

Johnny wasn’t moving, but as a precaution, Chet yelled down to him that the crane would be moving a car and not to move. They all looked on as the crane slowly moved to the car, lifted it, and without a problem, removed it and set it down. As soon as all was clear, the guys swarmed to Johnny, who could be very easily reached at this point.

________________________________________________________________________

Mrs. Stanley had remained the same on the way to Rampart, but Cap was really looking like he was about to faint. Roy kept a close eye on him as well as his wife. She was getting the vital fluids needed and was stable, but Hank was getting nothing but sicker. Roy would definitely have one of the docs take a look at him when they got to the hospital.

Just as the ambulance pulled up, Dr. Brackett was at the doorway ready for Mrs. Stanley. Roy was assisting the driver to get the stretcher out when he heard a noise behind him. He looked back, and Hank Stanley was passed out on the pavement, with a slight cut on his head.

“Get another gurney out here!” Dr. Brackett continued with Mrs. Stanley, while Roy and Dr. Early stayed with Hank.

“I was afraid this was gonna happen.” Roy looked at Dr. Early. “He kept getting more pale on the trip here, and I can’t even begin to imagine the stress that he’s going through right now. When we left, they still hadn’t even spotted Johnny.”

“Well, we’ll take care of them both, Roy, why don’t you head on back to scene; maybe by now they've found John and need your assistance.”

“I’m not sure that I should leave them.”

“Roy, your partner needs you, now go.”

With those words, Roy was on his way out to the scene of the accident in another ambulance that was dispatched there.  He hoped that they had found Johnny by the time he got there. He didn’t even want to think of what kind of shape Johnny was in, but he just hoped that the guys had found him, and had help to keep him alive.

________________________________________________________________________

Chet, surprisingly took over the scene once they got to Johnny. He checked for a pulse, and there was one. It was faint, but it was there. He knew that they had to be really careful in moving him. He had a serious head injury, and with a fall like he took, there could be some broken bones.

Marco and Mike arrived with a neck brace and a backboard. They all knew that they would at least need those two things. First, Marco put the neck brace on Johnny while Chet held his head perfectly still. Then they knew that they would need to log roll him over onto the backboard. The three men spaced themselves along his body, and prepared to get him on the board so they could move him to a better location. About this time, Engine 110 made their way to help search for and rescue the other victims.

“On my count…1…2…3,” Chet directed them without missing a beat.

Now that they had Gage on the backboard, they could carry him out, and contact Rampart. Chet was worried because Johnny hadn’t moved, moaned, groaned, or anything the entire time they were with him. He knew that Johnny was alive, but could they keep him that way?

Just when they got to the HT, the firemen saw an ambulance pull up.  They were all relieved. It was Roy climbing out of the back, and that was even better! They knew that Johnny would be in the best possible hands with Roy looking after him.

“How’s he doin’?” Roy was running toward Johnny.

“He’s alive,” Marco said.

“How’s Cap’s wife?” Mike asked.

“She’s about the same.  But when we got to Rampart, Cap collapsed.  So now they're both being seen.”

When Roy saw Johnny, he could hardly believe his eyes. He had never seen his partner so pale, and he had seen Johnny in pretty bad shape. When he felt for a carotid pulse, it was so weak that he could hardly feel it. He knew that Johnny must have lost a lot of blood and that he needed to find the source of the blood loss, if at all possible.

“Chet, get on the biophone, and contact Rampart.” Roy was working steadily to remove Johnny’s gear and clothing. He knew that he didn’t have a lot of time due to Johnny’s apparent blood loss. Seeing that Roy was disturbed, Mike and Marco began helping to remove the gear and clothing, treating Johnny like porcelain.

Roy began to attempt to get a BP on Johnny, and it was even lower than he had expected. After getting the BP, Roy did something totally out of character for him, something none of the guys had ever seen him do before. They all became scared for Johnny’s life.

“Damn,” Roy said, and threw the blood pressure cuff down. He then took Johnny’s pulse, and noticed that the guys had gotten all of Johnny’s gear off, and most of his clothing. He did a quick visual on Johnny, and noticed a gash on his forehead.  He obviously had some bleeding in his abdomen, which was swollen and rigid. Also, it seemed Johnny had a femur fracture on his right leg. His respiration wasn’t good either, and Roy suspected some broken ribs. Instead of having Chet relay all the information to Rampart, Roy decided that he should take over the biophone.

“Rampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?”

Brackett had been anxiously awaiting this call, and took the helm at Rampart base.

“51, this is Rampart, go ahead.”

“Rampart, we have a male, 27 years of age. He’d fallen into a crevice, left by a pile of cars on the Freeway. Vitals are: BP 90/40, pulse 128 and thready, respiration 17, and shallow. We are giving patient O2, and he is responding.”

“51, are there any other apparent injuries?”

“10-4, Rampart, patient has a gash above his left eye, on his forehead, apparent broken ribs, his abdomen is swollen and rigid, an apparent femur fracture on his right leg, and patient is unconscious, and unresponsive to painful stimuli.  It's Johnny."

“51, start 2 IV’s, one with ringers lactate, increase O2, brace the leg, then put the patient in shock pants. Transport as soon as possible.”

“10-4 Rampart, also pupils are sluggish but equal. We have an ambulance standing by.”

“10-4, 51, keep monitoring those vitals, and get John in here as soon as possible.”

“10-4, Rampart. Squad 51 out.”

As Roy had been on the biophone, Chet, Mike, and Marco had been preparing the supplies that he would need to administer to Johnny before transporting him to the hospital.

“Roy,” Chet had lots of concern on his face, “is Johnny…I mean, will he be…” Chet just couldn’t bring himself to say the rest, but everyone knew what he was thinking, and everyone wanted to know the same thing.

Roy glanced at each of his 3 “partners”, and assured them that Johnny would be okay, and that he had been through worse things than this and survived. Although Roy honestly couldn’t think of Johnny being as sick as he currently was, but he knew that the guys were looking to him for encouragement, and he wasn’t going to let them down.

After getting Johnny the field treatment that he needed, Roy helped load him into the ambulance, and Chet decided that he would drive the squad to Rampart. Mike knew that the engine couldn’t possibly work with a two-man crew, so he drove himself and Marco to the hospital also, where they would await further instructions about their schedule. Mike knew that the chief had already declared 51 unavailable until further notice.

 ________________________________________________________________________

Back at Rampart, Captain Stanley was much improved. His health took a turn for the better when he found out that his wife was going to be just fine. Dr. Early was going to keep him at least one night for observation. He knew that Hank would get some rest at Rampart; but if he had let him go home, it was very doubtful he would have rested at all.

Dixie went quietly into his room, thinking he was asleep.  But she quickly found out differently.

“When can I see her?”

Dixie smiled and thought aloud, “You firemen are all tough guys, aren’t you? Let’s get you better, then you can see her. She’s still asleep from the anesthesia, and likely will sleep through the night. Now are you gonna sleep, or am I going to have to get some medication for you?”

Hank absolutely hated the thought of being any more medicated than he already was and said, “Oh, I’ll sleep.  I just wanted to make sure that my wife was okay.” With that, he rolled over in the bed and fell asleep quickly.

Dixie began to think about the terrible day that Hank had, and all of the guys, then it hit her; it wasn’t over yet. She had been so busy that she hadn’t even found out if Johnny had been rescued. For all she knew, he could be at the hospital now.   If that was the case, she wanted to be by her dear friend’s side. She strolled down the hall looking for Dr. Brackett, because she knew that he would be taking Johnny’s case. Things were quiet, much too quiet. Finally she got to the entrance, and she saw that Kel, and a couple of orderlies were standing at the door. This couldn’t mean good news. They were likely waiting for Johnny to arrive. She decided to go out and join them.

About this time Cap Stanley awakened, and felt an urgent need to get to the lobby. He had never had quite this same feeling before, and he knew that he had to find the energy to get moving. He got out of bed, a bit wobbly at first, then made his way down to the main floor. He could see the doctors and nurses standing in the doorway, as if they were waiting for someone. Then he saw an ambulance drive up, without even seeing anything else, he thought, John! He stumbled to the ambulance bay, and was shocked, once again, when he saw how pale Johnny looked.

“Cap?” Chet couldn’t believe that their beloved captain was out of bed, and Hank didn’t look at all up to being out and about.

“Now what are we gonna do with you?” Dixie asked another nurse to escort Stanley back to his room.

“How is John?”

“You go back and get some rest, and we’ll take good care of Johnny!” Dixie attempted to be both firm and gentle at the same time. She knew that Hank had been through far more than one human should endure in a day, and frankly, she didn’t like the looks of Johnny's condition at all.  The captain didn't need to be seeing it. 

________________________________________________________________________

The gurney was rolled into Curtain 3, and Roy was right beside his partner.  He was exhausted, but still on his feet, and willing to help if at all possible. When the doctors got the shock pants off Johnny and examined him, they knew that he had to go to the OR stat, or they were going to lose him. His BP was far too low, and they had to get what was obviously internal bleeding under control.

“Joe, let’s get him to the OR.”

“Sure, Kel, we don’t have a lot of time.”

With those few words, the doctors rolled the gurney down the hall, to the elevator, while Dixie informed the OR that they had a critical patient coming. Roy only then realized how tired he was from the day, but he knew that he couldn’t leave the hospital. They were all off shift now, but none of the remaining firemen could bear the thought of being away from the hospital. Chet checked to make sure that both Hank and his wife were going to be okay. He was informed that Hank’s vitals became unstable when he left his room, but he was stable and resting comfortably now, and that his wife was also stable and resting comfortably.

“It’s up to Johnny now,” Mike’s voice was shaking when he uttered the words. He knew by the look on the doctors' faces that Johnny was very critical, and he knew that Johnny had very bad color, and wasn’t at all stable. Looking over at Roy, he realized that the senior paramedic already looked as if he had lost his best friend. Roy was on the phone calling Joanne to tell her where he was, and that he didn’t know when he would be home. He didn’t say so, but he so wished that she could be there with him. He needed her now more than ever, but so did their children.  It would be impossible to get a sitter at this hour, so he went over to his fellow firemen, and they gave each other all the support they could muster.

Marco looked up at the clock. It had been 3 hours since they rolled Johnny back. He wasn’t sure if this was good or bad, but he was sure that he wanted to hear something, anything, from the OR. He began to shuffle in his seat. Marco had seen death many times, and the look that Johnny had when they rolled him out was indeed the look of death. He tried to tell himself differently, but he knew that look when he saw it. They all did. 

________________________________________________________________________

Up in the OR, Brackett, Early, and Morton were all working on Johnny.  The doctors had technically lost him three times already. Twice they had shocked him back to life; the third time they had to use internal massage, and the internal shock paddles. None of the three were comfortable with Johnny’s vitals at this point, but there was little they could do until they stopped the bleeding. After a thorough examination, they realized that he had a liver laceration, and that his bowel had perforated. With that, bacteria had filled his abdomen, along with the blood from the liver lac. Now they had the task of attempting to clear out as much bacteria as possible, and sew up the liver lac, along with check the entire bowel to make sure there were no more tears. This was going to be a very long surgery, and the three surgeons were up for the task. Now if only the patient would cooperate, this could be done. Johnny was tough, but infection was a certainty, and they also had to get his leg in a cast. At least the break was clean, and would not require any screws or pins. Johnny was going to be out of action for a very long time, at the very least.

After the long examination of the bowel, the doctors realized that there was only one tear, but that was enough to make them all feel very uncomfortable. The liver lac wasn’t really a problem to deal with, and the femur fracture wasn’t that bad either. Upon examining the skull x-rays, there were no skull fractures.  But they would send Johnny through a CT to make sure there was no bruising of the brain, which they all suspected was the case.

John Gage had come through those hospital doors many times as a patient, but never a patient who was this sick. Everyone, both inside and outside the OR, knew that Johnny would have it no other way; he was doing what he loved to do. Rescuing someone.  And every paramedic and fireman accepted the dangers that went along with the job.

Finally after seven hours of surgery, Johnny was ready for the CT scan, and the docs were ready to get some rest. Brackett knew all the guys from 51’s A-Shift would be awaiting word on Johnny, and decided to be the one to give them the news. 

________________________________________________________________________

“What could be taking so long?” Chet was fretted, and scared at the same time, which did not make a good combination for anyone.  But for Chet Kelly, it was horrible.

“Maybe if you sit down and stop pacing, you’ll feel better.” Roy was tired, worried, and in no mood for Chet right then. It was nothing personal at all, but his nerves were wracked, and he wanted Johnny to be okay.  He also wanted to go home and hit the shower, and get into bed with his wife.

“Do you guys realize that it’s been seven hours?” Marco was amazed that the time was going by so slowly, and yet he wanted to hear word from the surgical team more than anything else. He also noticed that he was beginning to get hungry.

“Is this normal, Roy?” Mike couldn’t imagine that it was. “I mean, being in surgery for seven hours without a word?”

“Well, they are really busy tonight with that Freeway pile up, and some of the nurses are out sick too, so maybe there isn’t anyone to tell us anything, but I sure would feel better if we could hear something.”

Indeed, Roy would feel better. He was really getting concerned about his partner now. Usually every couple of hours, at least, you will get a call from the OR. If nothing else, the doctors would tell the family and friends waiting that a procedure was going well at that time.  Now it had been seven hours, and nothing. He knew that something was wrong, and he feared the worst.

“I thought I’d find all of you in here!” Dr. Brackett’s cheerful voice lifted each man’s spirit.

“Is he gonna be okay, Doc?” Chet couldn’t wait, and why should he? The wait had already been grueling .

“Things look okay for now, guys. You see, when we opened his abdomen, John had a laceration to his liver, which wasn’t the biggest problem we found. He also had a perforated bowel. In all likelihood, he will get an infection, but we have him in ICU, and he’s on IV antibiotics.  So now it’s a wait and see thing.”

“Was there very much bacteria, Doc?” Roy knew just how dangerous this could be for his partner, and he wanted all the details that he could get.

“I’m afraid that there was, Roy. We cleaned his abdominal cavity out as best we could, but you know how these infections go. Let’s just wait and see. John’s tough. We almost lost him 3 times, but he’s still with us, and he’s still fighting, so let’s just give his body time to heal and we’ll deal with the infection when it hits.”

“You mean IF it hits, right doc?” Chet wasn’t going to accept the fact that his friend was far from out of the woods yet.

“No, Chet,” Roy could tell the doc was exhausted. ”When it sets in.”

“Now you guys need to go home, and get some rest. You will not be able to see Johnny tonight, and you all look exhausted. Call before coming in tomorrow; we plan to keep him pretty sedated.” With that, Kel headed to the doctors' lounge.

________________________________________________________________________

None of the guys had anything to say as they headed out of the hospital. Roy realized that they should be really hungry by now, but he wasn’t at all interested in food.  He decided not to mention it to any of the other guys. They all agreed that they would come back tomorrow, visitors allowed or not.

When Roy got home, he found Joanne asleep on the couch. He gently kissed her forehead, and she awakened.

“How is he?”

“So far, so good. He did have a perforation of his bowel, so he will get an infection.  But hopefully that will hold off until his body has some time to heal. They say that he’s resting comfortably. I’m gonna hit the shower, then the bed.”

Joanne yawned as she looked at the clock, and realized that it wouldn’t be long before she would need to get the children up for school. So she went into the kitchen, and began to prepare some breakfast, and their lunches. She heard Roy exit the bathroom and enter the bedroom. He has to be more than exhausted.

Chet, and Marco decided to drop by a Waffle House and get some breakfast on the way home. They realized just how hungry they were when the fragrance of the waffles hit their noses. They both sat down to a hearty breakfast, and didn’t say anything. Each knew what the other was thinking.   It was too horrible to say out loud, so they separated, and each went to his own place.

Mike got home and was ready to shower, then go to bed. Instead, he sat on the couch and turned on the tv. There was the news about the freeway pile up.  He changed the station, and just sat there in a daze. He was too tired to move. Both physically and mentally, he was spent. All in one lousy day, they had to rescue the captain’s wife, then Hank went out on them; and who knew when Johnny’s battle will be over. Times like this made him rethink his chosen profession. He couldn’t imagine himself doing anything else though, so he would just hope for more good days than bad ahead.  Mike lay down on the couch and fell asleep. 

________________________________________________________________________

The next day, the firemen all showed up at the hospital. They wanted to know how Johnny was, and Dixie told them that they had a captain there that really wanted to see them. All were delighted, but Roy knew that something was wrong when Dixie didn’t mention Johnny. He started to ask her, but decided that he would go and see Hank first.

Hank was eating breakfast, and looked wonderful. His color was back, and he was no worse for the wear. He also beamed when he told the guys that his wife would be released within the next week, and that he would be released that very day.

“Well, it’s a good thing that we have the day off!” Chet tried his best to be funny, but he failed, once again.

“So, how’s John? Have you guys seen him yet?”

“No, Cap,” Roy chimed in, “they told us that we could come and see you, so we haven’t had a chance to visit Johnny yet.”

“Well, maybe I can join you guys when you go to see him.”

Mike thought that it was obvious that Hank had not been informed of Johnny’s condition.  And none of them were in a position, or mood to inform him. He noticed Hank looking his way, and he just nodded his head.

Roy decided to go and ask Dixie what was up with Johnny. She told him that John had spiked a fever during the night and infection had already set in.

“Can I see him?”

Roy saw Brackett there, and decided that he would take a chance on asking.

“Officially, no,” Brackett hesitated. “But I think it might do him good to see you. Now just remember that he is heavily sedated, and Roy, he needs you now.”

With that Roy entered the ICU, and made his way over to Johnny. He had never seen his partner look so vulnerable. He was pale, lifeless, nothing like the John Gage that he knew, and loved like a brother. He sat down and looked at Johnny for a bit. Then he remembered that even sedated, sometimes people can still hear what you say.

“Hey there, Junior. Guess you’d do about anything to get some attention from these nurses, huh? Well, you went a little far this time, but you wouldn’t be the infamous John Gage if you didn’t, now would you?”

Roy reached up and wiped a tear from his eye, as he took Johnny’s hand.

“Johnny, this is probably the hardest battle you’ve ever had to fight. But, you have to win this one, Partner. I mean, we, I, no, we all need you. The guys don’t know that I’m in here now, or they would be hanging around to see how you are. Johnny, you’re scarin’ me right now. You need to reach deep down inside, and fight with everything that you’ve got. Not just for me, but for everyone. There are so many people who care about you; who look up to you. Heck, Johnny, I’d be lost without you. So reach deep down, and pull with all your might, you can beat this; I know you can.”

Just as Roy was about to leave, he was wiping a tear from his cheek, and suddenly he felt Johnny’s hand grip his. No, it wasn’t the normal strong John Gage grip, but it was something. He then knew that his partner would beat the infection, and come back to the people who loved him so dearly.

He came out of the ICU, and there was 51’s A-Shift looking at him in shock. Roy was smiling, something that none of them expected.

“How’s he doin’?” Marco couldn’t wait for Chet to ask this time.

“He looks terrible, has a high fever, pale, lifeless, but he squeezed my hand!” Roy said with all the enthusiasm of a little boy opening his Christmas packages.

“That’s a very good sign.” Dr. Early knew in the back of his mind that Johnny was going to be okay, but this reaffirmed his thoughts.

________________________________________________________________________

Luckily, the crew had a long weekend, and decided that after all the stress they would go to the beach. Hank was able to join them on the second day, and they got the relaxation they all needed before heading back to work.

Mike surfed and Marco gave it a try, but didn’t really enjoy it.  So the Hispanic fireman just hung out with Chet, who was working on his tan and checking out the babes. Marco thought his time was much better served this way than attempting to surf.

Joanne had a wonderful picnic set up, and Hank stayed with her and Roy, all the while talking about how excited he was that his wife was coming home soon. Joanne assured him that she would be over to help out. Bill, who usually was the captain for 86's, was going to take on a few extra hours and substitute a couple of days for Hank.

After a wonderful, relaxing day on the beach, the guys and Joanne headed out to Rampart to see how Johnny was doing. When they got there, they were all shocked. Dr. Brackett had Johnny in isolation because of the infection, and none of them could go in to see him. Johnny was once again listed as critical.

“It can’t be,” exclaimed Roy. “Just yesterday he squeezed my hand, and we all know what a good sign that was. Just let me see him for five minutes. That’s all I ask, Doc, please.”

Brackett knew how close Roy and John were.  And as long as Roy wore sterile clothing, he didn’t think it would hurt Johnny; maybe it would even help him somehow. The doctors were at the end of their rope, as far as help for John went at this point. 

________________________________________________________________________

Roy entered the isolation room, looking more like an astronaut than a fireman.  He could tell that his partner was worse just by looking at him. Roy slowly made his way over to the bed, and once again took Johnny’s hand. He talked to him, telling the younger man how important he was to him and all the crew.  But this time Johnny didn't squeeze his hand. Finally, just as Roy was on his way out, he heard the faintest sound. It was coming from Johnny’s bed. Roy’s eyes grew larger as he went over to his partner. Johnny was waking up! He was trying to talk, but Roy told him to just wait, and he would go get a doc.  But Johnny grabbed his hand, as if to ask him not to leave, so Roy pushed the button to call the nurse.

In a moment, Brackett, Early, Morton, and Dixie were entering the room with their suits on. Johnny began what was his best attempt at a laugh. They all looked so funny to him in those suits. With that, the entire room burst into laughter.   Looking at the monitor, they all could see that the crisis was finally over. Johnny’s temp had broken, his vitals were stable, and if he had the energy to laugh, he had to be getting better.

________________________________________________________________________

Over the next several weeks, Johnny wasn’t the best patient Rampart had ever taken care of.   But he was one of the most entertaining, as always. Finally, after rehab on the leg and time for his internal injuries to heal, he was ready to leave the hospital and get back to work. There was only one request the paramedic made to the staff of Rampart.

“Please don’t tell the guys that I’ll be back tomorrow; I want to surprise ‘em!”

Of course everyone agreed! Johnny knew that Roy would be stopping by that evening, and didn’t want to look like he was ready to leave the hospital. Roy stopped by, and wanted to know when he was getting out of that place.

“You know Brackett will keep me off duty as long as he can, just to make sure I'm 100% before he clears me to return to work."  Johnny even managed to look depressed about the possibility of more time off.

As soon as Roy left, Dixie popped her head in the room and wanted to know if her favorite patient was ready to go home.

“Are you kiddin’?”

Johnny was up in a flash, and on his way out of the room when Dixie came running in and told him to get back on the bed.

“Dix, I didn’t know you felt that way.” Johnny said, as she practically threw him to the bed.

The next thing Johnny knew, there was Chet, and Marco, coming by for a night visit. They didn’t stay long, but before Johnny got up again, Dixie was going to take a look, and make sure that they weren’t going to have any more company. The coast was clear and Dixie and Johnny made a run for it.

________________________________________________________________________

Johnny hadn’t even told Craig Brice, who had been his replacement, that he was coming back. And right at 8, when Cap was doing roll call, Johnny snuck into the station and took his place in line.  He stood right beside Brice, who almost dropped his rulebook when he saw Johnny. Fortunately, Craig was the only one to notice Johnny. Hank continued with roll call.

“Brice”

“Yes, Sir.” Hank could have sworn that he heard two voices.  Evidently everyone else did too, because everyone turned and looked toward a red faced Brice rolling his eyes.  Right beside Brice was ...

“Johnny!” They all said his name at the same time. Then roll call was totally forgotten and everyone was giving Johnny pats on the back, and handshakes in congratulations.  Brice made an exit so quickly that no one noticed him leave.

“Surprise!” Johnny was so happy to be back at Station 51, where he belonged.

“When did you find out that you could come back today?” Roy couldn’t help but be curious, knowing that Johnny could never keep a secret.

“Yesterday,” came out with the famous Gage smile.

“But, even I didn’t know,” Hank was blown away.

“I wanted to surprise you guys; looks like it worked!”

“I don’t know whether to stick you with latrine duty, or kiss ya.” Hank was thrilled to have him back, as was everyone else.

“Well, I just want to get back to work; I’m sure Chet has been gettin’ on everybody’s nerves, and Roy’s been lost without me, and there probably haven’t been any interesting chicks around here since I’ve been out.”

“We’ll never tell!” Marco had to tease him just a bit.

“If we’d have known, we could’ve given you a party, or something!” Mike always wanted to do something when one of the guys had been out and came back, especially when they had been through as much as Johnny had been through.

“How about a cookout at our house this weekend?” Roy and Joanne were famous for their cookouts around the station.

“Perfect,” added Chet, “and I can show Johnny some of my new magic tricks!”

“Okay, sounds great, guys.  But Chet, NO magic tricks, I’ve been sick for too long to put up with those.”

Everyone laughed, then the klaxons sounded.

“Station 51, crash with injuries, Pasadena Freeway, ambulance responding, Pasadena Freeway, time out 08:20.”

“Station 51, 10-4, KMG365.”

Hank looked at Roy and Johnny as he went by the squad. They were both practically holding their breath.

“It will be nothing compared to THAT run.  It can’t be!”

“Yea, Roy, it can’t be, can it?”

“No, Johnny, not this time.  If you noticed, we were the only station called out.  It's just an odd coincidence.”

“Yea, too odd.”

They sped away to the scene of a much smaller accident on a fog free day, much to the relief of everyone.

“Ain’t life grand, Roy?”

“It sure is, Junior!”